The Georgia state legislature approved a change to Georgia’s new evidence code dealing with Spousal Privileges that went into effect as of January 1, 2013.
Georgia’s evidence law, which followed that of many states, protected spouses from having to testify against one another in criminal cases. As of January 1, 2013, Georgia’s new Evidence code went into effect and in doing so the brought about the end of Spousal Privilege as many people have come to know it.
If my husband got arrested for domestic violence due to witnesses (not by me), do I have to appear in court to testify?
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If my husband got arrested for domestic violence due to witnesses (not by me), do I have to appear in court to testify?
Asked on March 13, 2014 under Criminal Law, Georgia
Answers:
Anne Brady / Law Office of Anne Brady
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
This is from westgeorgialawyerblog.com:
Once the bill was approved and became part of the new Georgia evidence code it went into effect January 1,
2013.
It should be noted that most of the spousal privilege against testifying is still in place except in circumstances such as where the testifying spouse is the victim or the victim is a child of the marriage. In these cases, there is absolutely no privilege to assert. The new law allows prosecutors to compel victims of domestic violence to testify against their abusive spouse.
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