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Md. lawmakers strip spousal privilege from post-crime weddings
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 headed to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk. The Senate passed the bill 47-0 on Saturday. The House of Delegates approved the measure 131-2 last month. Del. Robin […]
House panel weighs bill to strip spousal privilege from post-crime weddings
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 Wednesday for the third time in as many years. Del. Robin L. Grammer Jr., the measure’s sole legislative sponsor, told the panel […]
Md. House strips spousal privilege from post-crime weddings
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 shifts to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, which is expected to soon hold a hearing […]
Md. bill would strip spousal privilege from post-crime weddings
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 is rooted in the belief that the important bond of marriage – rooted in love, […]
Md. high court weighs if spousal privilege applies to ‘sham’ marriages
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 justice and witness tampering convictions against the groom. Assistant Maryland Attorney General Brenda Gruss told […]
Bill to exempt ‘sham’ marriages from spousal privilege advances
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 Maryland General Assembly committee Monday. Del. Robin Grammer, R-Baltimore County, proposed House Bill 64 to […]
Md. appeals court: Spousal privilege applies to ‘sham’ marriages
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 trial. In its reported decision Tuesday, the Court of Special Appeals overturned Darrayl Wilson’s conviction […]
