The protection criminal defendants have against their spouses testifying against them would not apply in cases when the wedding occurred after the alleged crime was committed, under legislation the House of Delegates passed Tuesday. With the House’s 120-11 vote, attention ...

Tagged with: criminal procedure sham wedding spousal privilege

The protection criminal defendants have against their spouses testifying against them would not apply in cases when the wedding occurred after the alleged crime was committed under legislation the House Judiciary Committee considered Thursday. The longstanding “spousal privilege” against testifying ...

Tagged with: criminal procedure Robin Grammer sham wedding spousal privilege

An accused killer’s jailhouse wedding created a “sham marriage” designed to prevent his newlywed wife from testifying against him at his upcoming murder trial, an attorney for Maryland said Monday in urging the state’s top court to reinstate obstruction of ...

Tagged with: marriage sham marriage spousal privilege

A bill to exempt marriages formed after a crime is committed from the spousal privilege — a general rule that one spouse cannot be compelled to testify against the other in a criminal proceeding — received a favorable report from a ...

Tagged with: Court of Special Appeals house judiciary Lisae C. Jordan marriage Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault Maryland General Assembly Robin Grammer spousal privilege

Marrying the prosecution’s star witness to prevent him or her from testifying against you does not constitute witness tampering or obstruction of justice, Maryland’s second-highest court has ruled in allowing an accused murderer to invoke spousal privilege at his upcoming ...

Tagged with: marriage spousal privilege