Opinion ID: 1974893
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Owens' Claim of Violation of Spousal Privilege

Text: Appellant Owens claims that he was denied a fair trial because his common-law wife, Miss Sheryl Sampson, was compelled to testify against him before the grand jury and at trial without being apprised of her statutory spousal privilege. In civil or criminal proceedings, a husband or wife is competent to testify, but neither may be compelled to do so. D.C.Code § 14-306. [8] Miss Sampson testified on direct examination for the government and characterized herself as Owens' former common-law wife. She stated that she had a six and one half year relationship with Owens and that he was the father of her six and one half year old child. Miss Sampson acknowledged that her relationship with Owens had concluded. Other evidence showed that Owens married someone named Barbara Moore in June 1984. Common-law marriages are covered by the marital privilege. Bowler v. United States, 480 A.2d 678, 685 (D.C. 1984). Moreover, confidential communications made during the marriage survive the dissolution of the marriage. United States v. Lewis, 140 U.S.App.D.C. 40, 43 n. 10, 433 F.2d 1146, 1149 n. 10 (1970). Therefore, Miss Sampson's status at the time of trial makes no difference with respect to the availability of the privilege for confidential communications. Miss Sampson denied at trial that Owens had admitted his involvement in the Kovak's robbery, and the prosecutor impeached her with her grand jury testimony to the contrary given on January 18, 1985. An appropriate limiting instruction on the use of the prior testimony for impeachment purposes only was given by the trial court. The court repeated the instruction during its final charge to the jury. The court also instructed the jury, consistent with Miss Sampson's trial testimony, that Mr. Owens had not told her that he participated in the robbery and that they should accept that testimony as fact. No one alerted the court or objected that Miss Sampson's testimony fell within the spousal privilege. Had the potential for privilege been clear, it would have been incumbent upon the court to address the witness and to inform her that she could not be compelled to testify. See Bowler, supra, 480 A.2d at 685. Here, the availability of the privilege was less than clear because of the uncertainty about Miss Sampson's status, and any claim to that effect went unnoticed because of the failure of Miss Sampson or appellant Owens to call the matter to the attention of the court. Even assuming error in the failure of the trial court to inquire, we find that appellant suffered no prejudice in view of the limited use of Miss Sampson's testimony for impeachment purposes, the limiting instruction, as well as the further instruction given by the court that the jury should consider as fact that appellant never made the remark which the prosecutor sought to elicit. [9]