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Use Of Incriminating Text Messages Between Spouses As Evidence Is Upheld By Pennsylvania Appeals Court:
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Carving out an exception to Pennsylvania's spousal communication privilege law, the state's Superior Court (appeals court) has ruled that text messages exchanged between a married couple should be admitted into evidence in a criminal child abuse prosecution where it is alleged the wife brutally beat her husband's 4-year-old son.
The appeals court, in a unanimous three-judge opinion, said that because the texts are being used in ongoing child abuse proceedings involving the woman and the child, the woman could not have had a reasonable expectation that her communications would remain confidential, the Legal Intelligencer reports (see below).
"This holding not only modernizes the antiquated notion of preserving marital harmony above all else, but reinforces the significant purpose of protecting children from abuse and promoting the reporting of such abuse," Judge Anne E. Lazarus wrote for the court.
The defendant, Michele Renae Hunter, is accused of brutally beating her 4-year-old stepson, Billy. Hunter and her husband, William, who is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, allegedly exchanged 119 text messages over a two-day period before Billy saw a doctor, Public Opinion reported. Many of the messages dealt with the boy's worsening medical condition.
The child, Billy, suffered a severe brain injury that led to cardiopulmonary arrest, and is likely to suffer lasting brain damage, the court wrote.
A Franklin County, Pennsylvania trial judge ruled last year that the spousal communications privilege does not apply in criminal child abuse cases. He said Michele Hunter had no expectation of privacy in the texts because they would have been admissible in hearings before state child welfare officials.
[www.abajournal.com/news/article/2-7-2013/ by ABA Journal's Mark Hansen; www.law.com/The Legal Intelligencer/2-5-2013/ 'Superior Court Allows Texts From Wife In Child-Abuse Prosecution"/ by Ben Present; www.publicopiniononline.com/ "Franklin County Judge To Allow Texts At Trial Of Chambersburg Woman Accused of Severely Injuring Her Stepson, Age 4]
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