My husband was arrested and charged with assault on me after I called the police. I made a mistake. Please help!

Question

My husband and I were trying to reconcile our marriage after a protective order I got for 1 year. However, this time I put my hands on him while he was sleep after suspecting that he was cheating with other woman, and in reality he was not. He put his hands up (because he was sleep) and I bit my tongue which produced blood. I called the police because it was in the heat of an argument. He walked away and left our home to defuse the situation . The state took over and he got arrested. The put him on pre trial with an ankle monitor and a lot of conditions. How can I fix this and say the truth that I smacked him in his sleep and that the blood and “hitting” me was to get me off of him. We are still married and I feel terrible.

Lee Eidelberg · Answer

Subject to further inquiry, you may be eligible to invoke your one-time spousal privilege, pursuant to which you cannot be compelled to testify against your husband.  You need to consult with legal counsel to confirm that exceptions to the rule would not prevent you from invoking that privilege.  Regardless, be forewarned that even if the privilege applies, this would not prevent the State from prosecuting your spouse if there was independent evidence upon which it could rely to prove its case.

Mark Oakley · Answer

First, your husband needs a lawyer. Second, you can only do two things: communicate to the State’s Attorneys Office your desire to not go forward with charges against your husband and your intent to invoke your privilege not to testify against your spouse; and then invoke your privilege on the trial date. A spouse can only invoke their privilege one time during the marriage, so if you’ve done this before, you can’t do it again with the same spouse.

Q: My husband was arrested and charged with assault on me after I called the police. I made a mistake. Please help!