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Respond to the following (label the answer with the correct letter – do not copy/paste the question):a. According to the author, what is the purpose of the “spousal adverse testimony privilege”? Please write in your own words using complete sentences. Don’t just copy and paste a block of text. b. Scroll down to the “Cumulative Supplement.” In Maryland, does the privilege apply between parties to a sham marriage? Explain why or why not using your own words and writing in complete sentences.********************The spouse of a person on trial for a crime may not be compelled to testify as an adverse witness unless the charge involves either the abuse of a child under 181 or, in certain circumstances, assault in any degree in which the spouse is a victim, if:2(1) The person on trial was previously charged with assault in any degree or assault and battery of the spouse;(2) The spouse was sworn to testify at the previous trial; and(3) The spouse refused to testify at the previous trial on the basis of the provisions of this provision.In addition, a spouse is a competent witness against the defendant spouse in a prosecution for bigamy.3The purpose of the spousal adverse testimony privilege is to maintain and foster the marital relationship. The spousal adverse testimony privilege is held by the potential witness who is called to testify for the state in a criminal prosecution of his or her present spouse. The spousal adverse testimony privilege

belongs to the witness spouse, not the defendant spouse, because its purpose only is furthered when the witness spouse is willing to invoke it; if a spouse is willing to testify against the other spouse in a criminal case, there is no viable marital relationship worth protecting.4It is the witness spouse’s right alone to decide whether he or she will testify or invoke the statutory privilege, and the defendant spouse has no ability to claim a denial of that right.5 Further, if the witness spouse has any right to be advised of the privilege not to testify, that too is the witness spouse’s right alone.6Observation:The United States Supreme Court has ruled that, in federal criminal trials in which the Federal Rules of Evidence are applicable, apart from confidential communications, a witness spouse alone has a privilege to refuse to testify adversely, and may be neither compelled to testify nor foreclosed from testifying.7CUMULATIVE SUPPLEMENTCases:In Maryland, if the parties are validly married, even if the marriage is a sham marriage, a spouse may invoke the spousal privilege. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 9-106. Wilson v. State, 241 Md. App. 683, 213 A.3d 655 (2019).Because of the disfavor with which the courts look upon the use of testimonial privileges at trial, any ambiguity is resolved against the marital communications privilege, rather than in its favor. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 9-105. Sewell v. State, 236 Md. App. 96, 180 A.3d 670 (2018).