State v. Woodrow

The judgment is reversed because of the admission of the testimony of the wife of the accused on his trial. On the question of its admissibility, I am compelled to differ from the majority of the Court, though I am in perfect accord with all their rulings as to other phases of the case. Therefore, I would affirm the judgment.

By the common law husband and wife were not competent witnesses either for or against each other. This was the general rule. There was an exception to it, first declared in Lord Audley’s Case, 3 State Trials, 402; Rex v. Aryre, 1 Str. 633; Lady Lawley’s Case, B. M. P.…