5. Which of the following statements is most clearly correct in the federal courts?

C is correct. The wife's proposed testimony could lead to her invoking the adverse spousal privilege, a privilege against testifying against her husband. That privilege, however, only exists at the wife's discretion. The witness spouse, in this case the defendant's wife, alone has a privilege to refuse to testify adversely against her husband; she may be neither compelled to testify nor foreclosed from testifying. The choice is hers.

A is incorrect. The adverse spousal privilege is the wife's, and the determination of whether to testify or not is her decision to make. The defendant cannot object and force his wife not to testify.

B is incorrect. The defendant's wife can testify, if she wishes, that she saw her husband sell heroin. Her testimony about her firsthand knowledge of the sale does not require that the wife disclose any privileged marital communication from her husband. She will testify as to what she saw.

D is incorrect. The adverse spousal privilege still exists. If the wife wishes not to testify against her husband, she cannot be compelled, in federal court, to do so.