Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/358/74/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 04:58:00+00:00

Document:
At petitioner's trial in a Federal District Court in which he was convicted of violating the Mann Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2421, by transporting a girl from Arkansas to Oklahoma for immoral purposes, his wife was permitted to testify against him over his objection.
Held: though the wife did not object to testifying, admission of her testimony over his objection was error. Pp. 358 U. S. 74-81.
(a) Though Congress or this Court, by decision or under its rulemaking power, can change or modify the rule where reason or experience dictates, and some specific exceptions have been made, this Court is not now prepared to abandon so much of the old common law rule as forbade one spouse to testify against the other over the latter's objection. Pp. 358 U. S. 75-79.
(b) On the record in this case, it cannot be said that the wife's testimony did not have substantial influence on the jury, and its admission was not harmless error. Pp. 358 U. S. 79-81.
to use his wife as a witness against him. [Footnote 1] Relying on Yoder v. United States, 80 F.2d 665, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that this was not error. 249 F.2d 735. As other Courts of Appeals have followed a longstanding rule of evidence which bars a husband or wife from testifying against his or her spouse, [Footnote 2] we granted certiorari. 355 U.S. 925.
Aside from slight variations in application, and despite many critical comments, the rule stated in Stein v. Bowman was followed by this and other federal courts until 1933, when this Court decided Funk v. United States, 290 U. S. 371. [Footnote 4] That case rejected the phase of the common law rule which excluded testimony by spouses for each other. The Court recognized that the basic reason underlying this exclusion of evidence had been the practice of disqualifying witnesses with a personal interest in the outcome of a case. Widespread disqualifications because of interest, however, had long since been abolished both in this country and in England in accordance with the modern trend which permitted interested witnesses to testify and left it for the jury to assess their credibility. Certainly, since defendants were uniformly allowed to testify in their own behalf, there was no longer a good reason to prevent them from using their spouses as witnesses. With the original reason for barring favorable testimony of spouses gone, the Court concluded that this aspect of the old rule should go too.
may be interpreted . . . in the light of reason and experience." Fed.Rules Crim.Proc., 26. The Government does not here suggest that authority, reason, or experience requires us wholly to reject the old rule forbidding one spouse to testify against the other. It does ask that we modify the rule so that, while a husband or wife will not be compelled to testify against the other, either will be free to do so voluntarily. Nothing in this Court's cases supports such a distinction between compelled and voluntary testimony, and it was emphatically rejected in Stein v. Bowman, supra, a leading American statement of the basic principles on which the rule rests. 13 Pet. at 38 U. S. 223. Consequently, if we are to modify the rule as the Government urges, we must look to experience and reason, not to authority.
success achieved by courts throughout the country in conciliating family differences is a real indication that some apparently broken homes can be saved provided no unforgivable act is done by either party. Adverse testimony given in criminal proceedings would, we think, be likely to destroy almost any marriage.
Of course, cases can be pointed out in which this exclusionary rule has worked apparent injustice. But Congress or this Court, by decision or under its rulemaking power, 18 U.S.C. § 3771, can change or modify the rule where circumstances or further experience dictates. In fact, specific changes have been made from time to time. Over the years, the rule has evolved from the common law absolute disqualification to a rule which bars the testimony of one spouse against the other unless both consent. See Stein v. Bowman, supra; Funk v. United States, supra; Benson v. United States, 146 U. S. 325, 146 U. S. 331-333; United States v. Mitchell, 137 F.2d 1006, 1008. In 1887, Congress enabled either spouse to testify in prosecutions against the other for bigamy, polygamy or unlawful cohabitation. 24 Stat. 635. See Miles v. United States, 103 U. S. 304, 103 U. S. 315-316. Similarly, in 1917 and again in 1952, Congress made wives and husbands competent to testify against each other in prosecutions for importing aliens for immoral purposes. 39 Stat. 878 (1917), reenacted as 66 Stat. 230, 8 U.S.C. § 1328 (1952).
shows there is still a widespread belief, grounded on present conditions, that the law should not force or encourage testimony which might alienate husband and wife, or further inflame existing domestic differences. Under these circumstances, we are unable to subscribe to the idea that an exclusionary rule based on the persistent instincts of several centuries should now be abandoned. As we have already indicated, however, this decision does not foreclose whatever changes in the rule may eventually be dictated by "reason and experience."
least use of the wife's testimony was a strong suggestion to the jury that petitioner was probably the kind of man to whom such a purpose would have been perfectly natural.
While the wife had been placed under bond to appear in District Court, she offered no objection in court to testifying against her husband.
See e.g., Paul v. United States, 79 F.2d 561 (C.A. 3d Cir.); Brunner v. United States, 168 F.2d 281 (C.A. 6th Cir.); United States v. Walker, 176 F.2d 564 (C.A. 2d Cir.).
Stein v. Bowman was a civil action involving testimony of a wife about conversations she had with her husband. The opinion shows, however, that the Court was concerned with the broader question here involved.
See, e.g., Miles v. United States, 103 U. S. 304, 103 U. S. 305; Graves v. United States, 150 U. S. 118; Jin Fuey Moy v. United States, 254 U. S. 189. Compare Benson v. United States, 146 U. S. 325, 146 U. S. 331-333. For criticism of the rule, see 7 Bentham, Rationale of Judicial Evidence (Bowring ed. 1843), 480-486; 2 Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed. 1940), §§ 600-620; 8 id., §§ 2227-2245; Hutchins and Slesinger, Some Observations on the Law of Evidence: Family Relations, 13 Minn.L.Rev. 675.
See 2 Wigmore, Evidence (3d ed. 1940), § 488; 8 id., § 2240; Note, 38 Va.L.Rev. 359, 362-367.
"Whoever knowingly transports in interstate or foreign commerce . . . any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose . . ."
"Shall be find not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
"The statute thus aims to penalize only those who us interstate commerce with a view toward accomplishing the unlawful purposes. . . . An intention that the women or girls shall engage in the conduct outlawed by Section 24 must be found to exist before the conclusion of the interstate journey, and must be the dominant motive of such interstate movement. And the transportation must be designed to bring about such result. Without that necessary intention and motivation, immoral conduct during or following the journey is insufficient to subject the transporter to the penalties of the Act."
". . . What Congress has outlawed by the Mann Act . . . is the use of interstate commerce as a calculated means for effectuating sexual immorality."
Mortensen v. United States, 322 U. S. 369, 322 U. S. 374-375. See Cleveland v. United States, 329 U. S. 14, 329 U. S. 19-20. Cf. Hansen v. Haff, 291 U. S. 559, 291 U. S. 563.
In the present case, however, the Government does not argue that this testimonial privilege should be wholly withdrawn. We are asked only to hold that the privilege is that of the witness, and not the accused. Under such a rule, the defendant in a criminal case could not prevent his wife from testifying against him, but she could not be compelled to do so.
shows that, before "Jane Wilson" testified, she had been imprisoned as a material witness and released under $3,000 bond conditioned upon her appearance in court as a witness for the United States. These circumstances are hardly consistent with the theory that her testimony was voluntary. Moreover, they serve to emphasize that the rule advanced by the Government would not, as it argues, create "a standard which has the great advantage of simplicity." On the contrary, such a rule would be difficult to administer and easy to abuse. Seldom would it be a simple matter to determine whether the spouse's testimony were really voluntary, since there would often be ways to compel such testimony more subtle than the simple issuance of a subpoena, but just as cogent. Upon the present record, and as the issues have been presented to us, I therefore concur in the Court's decision.
See Comment, Rule 23(2) of the Uniform Rules of Evidence.
We are not dealing here with the quite different aspect of the marital privilege covering confidential communications between husband and wife. See Wolfle v. United States, 291 U. S. 7.
Apparently some nineteen States have either abolished or substantially modified this privilege. See Note, 38 Va.L.Rev. 359, 365. In England, the process has been a selective one, accomplished by legislation. See Evidence of Spouses in Criminal Cases, 99 Sol.J. 551. In 1938, the American Bar Association's Committee on Improvements in the Law of Evidence favored the abolition of the privilege on the part of the accused, 63 A.B.A.Rep. 595.
The facts in the present case illustrate how unrealistic the Court's basic assumption may be. At the time of the acts complained of, the petitioner's wife was living apart from him under an assumed name. At the time she testified, they were also living apart. In his testimony, the petitioner referred to her as his "ex-wife," explaining when his counsel corrected him that he and his wife had never lived together very much.
Before assuming that a change in the present rule would work such a wholesale disruption of domestic felicity as the Court's opinion implies, it would be helpful to know the experience in those jurisdictions where the rule has been abandoned or modified. It would be helpful also to have the benefit of the views of those in the federal system most qualified by actual experience with the operation of the present rule -- the district judges and members of the practicing bar. The Judicial Conferences of the several Circuits would provide appropriate forums for imparting that kind of experience. 28 U.S.C. § 333.
It is obvious, however, that all the data necessary for an intelligent formulation "in the light of reason and experience" could never be provided in a single litigated case. This points to the wisdom of establishing a continuing body to study and recommend uniform rules of evidence for the federal courts, as proposed by at least two of the Circuit Judicial Conferences. See Annual Report of the Proceedings of the Judicial Conference of the United States, September 18-20, 1957, p. 43. See Joiner, Uniform Rules of Evidence for the Federal Courts. 20 F.R.D. 429.

References: § 2421
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 § 3771
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 § 1328
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 § 488
 § 2240
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 § 333