Trammel v. United States (1979)
- Docket
- 78-5705
- Decided
- 1979-01-01
Summary
Question: Is it a reversible error to permit a wife to be called as a witness against her husband over his objection and without his consent? Conclusion: No. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, writing for eight members of the court, affirmed the 10th Circuit. The Supreme Court held that the rule from Hawkins was modified so that the privilege against adverse spousal testimony vested in the witness spouse alone. A witness may not be compelled to testify or foreclosed from testifying. Information disclosed privately between a husband and wife is still privileged under a separate rule protecting confidential marital communications. Justice Potter Stewart concurred in the judgment, writing that the foundations for the privilege against adverse spousal testimony disappeared long before Hawkins was ever decided.