Court Opinion

ID: 9748342
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:00:20.492246+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:34.583124
License: Public Domain

Justice NIGRO,
Concurring.
I agree with the majority that Mrs. Spetzer’s testimony regarding conversations she had with Appellee was admissible. *45I disagree, however, with the majority’s rationale that Appellee’s communications were not confidential under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5914 because the communications did not promote marital harmony. See Maj. Op. at 721-22 (citing Seitz v. Seitz, 170 Pa. 71, 32 A. 578 (1895)). Rather, I would find that the challenged communications were admissible under section 6381(c) of the Child Protective Services Law (“CPSL”), which, as the Commonwealth argues, modifies the spousal privilege set forth in section 5914. Specifically, section 6381(c) states:
Privileged communications.—Except for privileged communications between a lawyer and a client and between a minister and a penitent, a privilege of confidential communication between husband and wife or between any professional person, including, but not limited to, physicians, psychologists, counselors, employees of hospitals, clinics, daycare centers and schools and their patients or clients, shall not constitute grounds for excluding evidence at any proceeding regarding child abuse or the cause of child abuse.
23 Pa.C.S. § 6381(c) (emphasis added). In enacting this provision, I believe that the legislature made a public policy decision to override section 5914’s spousal privilege in proceedings, such as this one, which involve allegations of child abuse. Therefore, in my view, this Court need not go any further than section 6381(c) to find that the challenged statements in the instant case were admissible.