United States v. Pineda Mateo

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

We are called upon to decide an issue of first impression in this circuit-whether to recognize a "joint participant" exception to the spousal testimonial privilege. For the following reasons, we affirm the district *15 court's conclusion that recognition of such an exception is not warranted.

I

Before moving forward, a brief survey of the spousal testimonial privilege and the rationales that have traditionally undergirded it is in order.

A

The spousal testimonial privilege is an evidentiary privilege that protects a defendant's spouse from having to take the witness stand to…