Why not allow people to parcel out these marital privileges?

According to prosecutors, the marital privilege cannot be used by joint participants of a crime to conceal their activities.

In a few instances, such as the marital privilege, the privilege is a right held by the potential witness.

"I told you not to expect to claim any marital privileges--" Ivan stopped.

Grimaldi won't like me bringing it home, but he'll have to humor me if he wants his marital privileges.

He promised not to assert his marital privileges until he restored the estate to its original condition.

But this marital privilege does not justify a husband in endangering his wife's health and causing her grievous bodily harm.

Invoking the marital privilege, she did not testify at her husband's trial, but the judge permitted the prosecution to introduce her taped statement.

A few days later she recanted, and stated that she would claim marital privilege and refuse to testify against her ex-husband in any trial.

Mrs. Clinton, herself a lawyer and protected by marital privilege from having to testify against her husband, has often served as Mr. Clinton's chief crisis strategist.

Then, for the coup de grace, the prosecutors would try to find an exception to the marital privilege in order to force Silvia to testify about the safe, too.

However, later, during a casual conversation with her friend when trying out a wedding dress, she finds out that marital privilege may not apply to her after all.

But Mr. Murphy said Mr. Seale would be able to prevent his wife from testifying against him in state court by "asserting the marital privilege."

The reason, he said, was that the so-called marital privilege Mr. Signorelli sought to invoke did not apply when spouses were charged with being co-conspirators to a crime.

By a vote of 7 to 2, the Court created a new evidentiary privilege, in both civil and criminal cases, similar to the lawyer-client and marital privileges the Federal courts have recognized for years.

Spousal privilege (also called marital privilege or husband-wife privilege) is a term used in the law of evidence to describe two separate privileges: the communications privilege and the testimonial privilege.

She secretly goes to a lawyer, who tells her that marital privilege will only apply to conversations that take place after they get married, are not in the presence of a third party, and do not further any criminal enterprise.

The Doctor drank half a bottle PLUS one glass, the wife half a bottle MINUS the same quantity, which was a marital privilege, of an excellent Cote-Rotie, seven years old.

Looking down to reveal the wedding ring she now wears as Mrs. Alex Preston, it occurs to her that Preston now not only has access to the entire fortune, but that she is unable to testify against him because of marital privilege.

The United States Supreme Court held that the use of the spouse's recorded statement made during police interrogation violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to be confronted with the witnesses against the defendant where the spouse, because of the state law marital privilege, did not testify at the trial and so was unavailable.