Supreme Court of the United States · 1951 · Evidence
340 U.S. 332 (1951)
Updated
Evidencemarital communications privilegehusband-wife privilegeconfidential communicationspresumption of confidentialitygrand jurycontempt
Facts
Petitioner was summoned before a federal grand jury in Denver investigating the activities and records of the Communist Party of Colorado. He refused to answer certain questions and also refused to disclose the whereabouts of his wife, who was wanted by the grand jury as a witness. As to his wife's whereabouts, he claimed the privilege protecting confidential communications between husband and wife. It was undisputed that he learned where his wife was through a communication from her.
Issue
Whether a husband may invoke the marital communications privilege to refuse to disclose his wife's whereabouts when he learned that information from her and the Government did not show that the communication was not confidential.
Rule
A confidential communication between husband and wife is privileged. Marital communications are presumptively confidential, and unless the Government overcomes that presumption, a spouse may refuse to disclose information learned through such a communication.
🔒
See the holding & full analysis
Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.
The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case
One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
In Phoenix, a federal grand jury is investigating document destruction at a fictional labor association. Nolan Mercer refuses to answer where his wife, Leah Mercer, is staying, explaining that Leah told him her location during a private late-night phone call after learning investigators were trying to subpoena her. The prosecutor offers no evidence about any nonconfidential circumstances surrounding the call.
May Nolan successfully invoke the marital communications privilege to refuse to disclose Leah's location?
Explanation. A confidential communication between spouses is privileged, and marital communications are presumptively confidential. Where the witness's knowledge of the spouse's location was obtained from the spouse's communication and the government makes no effort to overcome the presumption of confidentiality, the privilege applies. The majority specifically rejected the argument that the spouse claiming the privilege must first prove private conveyance.