United States v. Pineda-Mateo

The First Circuit affirmed the conclusion of the district court that recognition of a “joint participant” exception to the spousal testimonial privilege is not warranted.The joint participant exception to the evidentiary privilege allows a spouse to testify against a defendant when the defendant has jointly participated in a criminal conspiracy with his spouse. In the instant case, Defendant and his wife (Wife) were arrested together and convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Intending to call Wife as a witness at Defendant’s trial, the Government subpoenaed Wife. Wife moved to quash the subpoena on the grounds that the spousal testimonial privilege prevented the Government from compelling her to testify. The district court granted Wife’s motion to quash and denied the Government’s motion to compel Wife’s testimony at Defendant’s trial. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the Government’s interest in being able to compel the testimony of a defendant’s co-conspiring spouse are outweighed by the significant policy concerns underlying the spousal testimonial privilege; and (2) therefore, the district court’s decision was not an abuse of discretion. View "United States v. Pineda-Mateo" on Justia Law