Before the trial, the judge cited maritalprivilege and other laws and ruled the prosecution couldn't ask Ms. Mangan-Valle if she thought Mr. Valle really planned to carry out the plot to kidnap and murder her.
Hiram Eastland, a lawyer representing former Espy aide Ron Blackley, says Smaltz's lawyers put Blackley's wife on the stand and tried to get her to testify against her husband despite the long-standing marital-privilege doctrine.