History Main / SpousalPrivilege

* Used as the TwilightZoneTwist in one ''TheTwilightZone'' comic. A man sells his soul with the understanding that he must be a horrible person. When he dies, he goes to Hell, where the Devil requires him to prove that he has been a horrible person. He calls his wife, whom he has abused terribly, as witness to his awfulness. However, she smilingly says that a wife cannot be compelled to testify against her husband, and the man is dragged off protesting by demons.

* In ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', George Sr. (mistakenly) thinks that a husband and wife cannot be arrested for the same crime. When corrected by his son, he says "[[RunningGag I have the worst fucking attorneys.]]"

* {{Averted}} by ''Series/TheWholeTruth''-due to an exception, in the second episode the husband testifies against his wife.

* In the SidneySheldon novel ''Master Of The Game'', Keith blackmails Eve into marrying him by revealing that he knows she killed George Mellis (as revenge for brutally assaulting her several years prior). When he tells her that if they were married, he couldn't be forced to testify against her, she reluctantly agrees - but is infuriated when she realizes that they have to ''stay'' married because there's no statute of limitations on murder.

# Marital confidences privilege: Any private conversation between spouses during the marriage, even if the two are later divorced, is not admissible as evidence, unless both allow its admission.

* Used as the TwilightZoneTwist in one ''TheTwilightZone'' comic. A man who sells his soul for with the understanding that he must be a horrible person. When he dies, he goes to Hell, the Devil requires him to prove that he has been a horrible person. He calls his wife, whom he has abused terribly, as witness to his awfulness. However, she smiling says that a wife cannot be compelled to testify against her husband, and the man is dragged off protesting by demons.

* In the SidneySheldon novel "Master Of The Game", Keith blackmails Eve into marrying him by revealing that he knows she killed George Mellis (as revenge for brutally assaulting her several years prior). When he tells her that if they were married, he couldn't be forced to testify against her, she reluctantly agrees, but is infuriated when she realizes that they have to ''stay'' married--there's no statute of limitations on murder.

* In ''Series/{{Weeds}}'', Peter--who is a DEA agent--gets Nancy to marry him in UsefulNotes/LasVegas to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[HollywoodLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]]. This of course doesn't cover the fact he legally blackmail and coerced her into marriage IE a legal contract, and a whole slew of other issues.

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "Den of Thieves", they interview the wife of Esposito's allegedly DeadPartner, whom they suspect of the murder of the week. She points out that either he's really dead, in which case he didn't do it, or he's not, in which case they're still married and she can't be compelled to testify against him.
* Both [=POIs=] of the ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' episode "Till Death" invoke this at the end. This was unusual in that the crime that they were arrested for was [[spoiler:hiring hitmen to kill each other]].

* On ''Series/OneLifeToLive'', David blackmails Dorian into marriage so that neither of them can be forced to testify against each other regarding their obstruction of justice regarding Victor Lord's murder. It's a classic example of HollywoodLaw--spousal privilege applies to things discussed ''during'' the marriage. Even married, what each of them knew about the other before the wedding is fair game.

* One of UsefulNotes/AlCapone's lieutenants, Jack [=McGurn=], married his girlfriend--who was also his alibi for the [[http://chicagocrimescenes.blogspot.com/2009/04/lookout-nest-for-st-valentines-day.html St. Valentine's Day massacre]]--so she couldn't be compelled to testify about it in court.

** In another episode, [[=McCoy=]], tries to claim that spousal privilege has been nullified because a third party was present when a man divulged some pertinent information to his wife. Unfortunately, said third party was the couple's marriage counselor, which falls under "doctor-patient" privilege. [=McCoy=] then tries to claim that ''that'' privilege is void because of the presence of a third party, but the judge tells him he can't have it both ways.

* In ''Series/TheSopranos, Adrianna gets this idea from a late night crime show and proposes to Christopher so she can't testify against him. Unfortunately, some clarification from an actual lawyer points out the flaws in this plan.

* In ''Series/{{Weeds}}'', Peter--who is a DEA agent--gets Nancy to marry him in [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]] to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[HollywoodLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]]. This of course doesn't cover the fact he legally blackmail and coerced her into marriage IE a legal contract, and a whole slew of other issues.

* In ''Series/{{Weeds}}'', Peter--who is a DEA agent--gets Nancy to marry him in [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]] to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[HollywoodLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]].

* In ''[[LordPeterWimsey The Nine Tailors]]'' by DorothyLSayers, the police won't allow [[spoiler:William and Mary Thoday]] to marry until the case is resolved, as they might need her testimony against him.

* One of AlCapone's lieutenants, Jack [=McGurn=], married his girlfriend--who was also his alibi for the [[http://chicagocrimescenes.blogspot.com/2009/04/lookout-nest-for-st-valentines-day.html St. Valentine's Day massacre]]--so she couldn't be compelled to testify about it in court.

* In ''{{Weeds}}'', Peter--who is a DEA agent--gets Nancy to marry him in [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]] to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[HollywoodLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]].

* This is a staple of ''LawAndOrder'', which tends to ping pong around a bit between marital confidence and spousal testimonial privilege, depending on the needs of the episode.

** One episode of ''[[LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]]'' revolves around the concept that two villains had married their victims ''precisely'' to abuse spousal privilege, something with which they openly mock the detectives. Their overconfidence eventually backfires when [[spoiler: investigations dig up a prior marriage license they hadn't gotten annulled, making their ''current'' marriages null and void]].
** Another ''SVU'' episode involves a serial rapist giving trophies from his victims (usually, jewelry) as gifts to his wife. He would ask her to wear the gifts during sex. She thought nothing of it until presented with all the evidence of the rapes. She agrees to testify, but is forbidden from giving any details regarding what her husband would have her do with the gifts, as the defense attorney argues that giving gifts to a spouse counts as private communication and is inadmissible as evidence. The prosecutor is limited to asking only details as to when and which gifts were given. During the trial, the wife gets upset that she's not being asked more and breaks down, revealing the truth. The judge declares a mistrial, and the husband goes free, until [[spoiler:one of his earlier victims helps his wife shoot him "in self-defense"]].
* This happened on an episode of ''MurderOne''.

* Invoked in ''DowntonAbbey'', where Anna is forced onto the sidelines at Bates' trial.
* In ''BoardwalkEmpire'', Nucky marries Margret partly so she cannot testify against him in his trial for the murder of her first husband.

* Both [=POIs=] of the ''PersonOfInterest'' episode "Till Death" invoke this at the end. This was unusual in that the crime that they were arrested for was [[spoiler:hiring hitmen to kill each other]].

* {{Averted}} by 'Series/TheWholeTruth''-due to an exception, in the second episode the husband testifies against his wife.

* Used as the TwlightZoneTwist in one ''TheTwightZone'' comic. A man who sells his soul for with the understanding that he must be a horrible person. When he dies, he goes to Hell, the Devil requires him to prove that he has been a horrible person. He calls his wife, whom he has abused terribly, as witness to his awfulness. However, she smiling says that a wife cannot be compelled to testify against her husband, and the man is dragged off protesting by demons.

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Skyler opts to go back on her desire to divorce Walt when [[spoiler: she devises a cover story for his drug money so that it can go towards Hank's physical therapy]], claiming it's so they can't be compelled to testify against one another.
* {{Averted}} by '{{Series/TheWholeTruth}}''-due to an exception, in the second episode the husband testifies against his wife.

At a [[TheDungAges less enlightened]] point in legal history, a woman's legal identity was overtaken by her husband. One of the results of this, when mixed with another old legal concept (you could not testify at your own trial), was that a wife could not testify, for or against, her husband. As the rules regarding legal personage and testimony changed, this turned into a rule that one spouse could not give adverse testimony against the other. Over the course of the 20th century, this rule has continued to change, generally transforming into a sort of privilege for certain communications.

Currently, in U.S. federal court (other nations' courts and State courts frequently have a different, typically lesser, degree of protection), two spousal privileges exist:

# Spousal testimonial privilege: If one spouse is on trial, the other cannot be compelled to testify against the one on trial. "Compelled" is important here; if one spouse wants to, say, sell the other out to the cops, the spouse is free to do so. (Note that this is considerably different from other sorts of legally recognized privileges. In those cases, the party the information is adverse to has the control.) Unlike the Marital confidences privilege, the two have to be married at the time, but this privilege also covers things before marriage.

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[YouFailLawForever broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, whether he or she wants to or not.

* There is a [[StarWars Luke/Mara]] fanfic, where the Republic wants to prosecute Mara for her crimes. Their only witness is Luke. Now, being a Jedi Master, he's not supposed to lie... so he marries her, and thus gains the right not to testify.

* In ''{{Weeds}}'', Peter--who is a DEA agent--gets Nancy to marry him in [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]] to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[ArtisticLicenseLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]].

** Another ''SVU'' episode involves a serial rapist giving trophies from his victims (usually, jewelry) as gifts to his wife. He would ask her to wear the gifts during sex. She thought nothing of it until presented with all the evidence of the rapes. She agrees to testify, but is forbidden from giving any details regarding what her husband would have her do with the gifts, as the defense attorney argues that giving gifts to a spouse counts as private communication and is inadmissible as evidence. The prosecutor is limited to asking only details to when and which gifts were given. During the trial, the wife gets upset that she's not being asked more and breaks down, revealing the truth. The judge declares a mistrial, and the husband goes free, until [[spoiler:one of his earlier victims helps his wife shoot him "in self-defense"]].

* Adrianna from ''TheSopranos'' tried to use this to her advantage, inspired by the episode of ''MurderOne'' mentioned above, but was eventually informed by an actual lawyer that [[ThisIsReality real life]] doesn't work like TV.

** In the first instance, the wife claims spousal privilege so she can't be forced to testify against her husband, which Brenda tells her doesn't apply in this case, though in the end, she testifies of her own will [[spoiler:as part of a plea deal, as she had committed the murder at her husband's instigation]].

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "Den of Thieves", they interview the wife of Esposito's allegedly-DeadPartner, whom they suspect of the murder of the week. She points out that either he's really dead, in which case he didn't do it, or he's not, in which case they're still married and she can't be compelled to testify against him.

* ''TheCloser'' used variations on both types, on different occasions.

* In the ''{{Castle}}'' episode "Den of Thieves", they interview the wife of Esposito's allegedly-DeadPartner, whom they suspect of the murder of the week. She points out that either he's really dead, in which case he didn't do it, or he's not, in which case they're still married and she can't be compelled to testify against him.

* In ''BreakingBad'', Skyler opts to go back on her desire to divorce Walt when [[spoiler: she devises a cover story for his drug money so that it can go towards Hank's physical therapy]], claiming it's so they can't be compelled to testify against one another.

->'''George:''' Don't worry, Michael. ''[conspiratorial whisper]'' They can't convict a husband and wife ''for the same crime!''\\

'''George:''' Really? ...I have the worst f[[SoundEffectBleep ---]]ing attorneys.

'''George:''' ...I have the worst f[[SoundEffectBleep ---]]ing attorneys.

* A major plot point in ''BrightonRock''.