Opinion ID: 1926802
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statements Subject to Marital Privilege

Text: Defendant next claims that the search warrant obtained by the Pennsylvania State Police was based in part on statements made to the Vermont State Police by Sandra Crannell that should have been excised because they were subject to a marital privilege. He relies on V.R.E. 504, which provides that a person has a privilege to prevent his spouse from disclosing confidential communications made while they were lawfully married. He further claims that once those statements are excised, the affidavit fails to provide probable cause for a warrant to issue. Defendant was married to Sandra from October 18, 1990 to August 11, 1992 (the expiration of the nisi period for their no-fault divorce). Defendant identifies five of Sandra's statements contained in the search warrant application that he claims violated the marital privilege: (1) in late August 1992, defendant refused to acknowledge the divorce and threatened to beat up anyone who was dating her; (2) before the marriage, defendant told her he had blown up a car with a bomb and was apprehended only because he failed to destroy evidence; (3) before the marriage, defendant told her about methods for killing someone and for concealing the crime; (4) defendant, when asked by Sandra if he had ever killed anyone, answered there are just some things you never talk about; and (5) defendant had written to Sandra in August 1992 saying he was depressed and that she was his whole life. Defendant made statement 1 to Sandra in a telephone call during the week of August 21, 1992, after the divorce became final on August 11, 1992. Defendant points to the fact that he attacked the divorce decree in August 1992 and that in September 1993 that decree was set aside. (The Crannells were later divorced a second time.) He claims that the set-aside divorce decree of August 1992 did not end their marriage and therefore his statements were made during a lawful marriage. This argument would affect only the admission of statement 1, made after August 11, 1992. Since this information was also contained in Sandra's application for the restraining order and was therefore public record, we cannot see how the statement is privileged. We think it determinative that at the time the statement was made, the divorce, which defendant had initiated and sought, had become final by order of the family court and therefore any reliance on a marital privilege was patently inappropriate. See Reporter's Notes, V.R.E. 504 (rule encourages confidential communications made in reliance on the existence of the [marital] relationship). Therefore, no marital privilege applies. Thus, no excision was needed, and the statement properly formed part of the probable cause for the search warrant. Statements 2 and 3 were found by the trial court to have been made to Sandra before the marriage. Therefore, these statements were not subject to a marital privilege and properly formed part of the basis for probable cause. Because Sandra testified that she could not remember whether statement 5 was made before or after the divorce became final, we assume for purposes of our analysis that statements 4 and 5 were made during the marriage and should therefore have been excised from the search warrant. [4] Exclusion of these statements, however, does not automatically render the probable cause finding improper. [5] See State v. Morris, 165 Vt. 111, 129, 680 A.2d 90, 102 (1996) (where some evidence in affidavit must be expunged, court may determine whether remaining information established probable cause for issuance of warrant). Probable cause to search exists when the information in an application for a warrant leads a judicial officer to reasonably conclude that a crime had been committed and that evidence of the crime will be found in the place to be searched. Id. In this case, a murder had plainly been committed, and several witnesses saw defendant's car in the area before and after the murder. One witness described defendant as wearing a watch cap, and such a cap had been found near the crime scene. Furthermore, defendant's conviction for bombing a car in Florida was a matter of public record, as well as the restraining order obtained by Sandra because she feared he would hurt her or someone she dated. Even absent Sandra's statements to the police, the nexus between defendant and the crime was well-supported. Given that statements 1, 2 and 3 were properly included in the affidavit, the affidavit established probable cause without the two statements possibly made during the marriage. [6] Thus, any error in including those statements was harmless. See State v. Wright, 154 Vt. 512, 531, 581 A.2d 720, 731 (1989) (assuming admission of statements violated marital privilege, error was harmless as outcome of trial would have been same).