U.S. v. Brock

In prosecution on unlawful possession of firearm by felon charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in allowing defendant’s wife to testify regarding defendant’s knowledge of presence of guns in defendant’s home, even though wife had moved to quash govt. subpoena to provide said testimony on grounds of marital and spousal testimonial privileges. Wife waived both privileges, where she had previously testified in pre-trial detention hearing about defendant’s knowledge of guns without objecting to giving said testimony. Moreover, defendant lacked standing to appeal Dist. Ct.’s finding that defendant’s wife waived spousal testimonial privilege since said privilege belonged only to wife. Dist. Ct. erred, though, in finding that defendant was eligible for enhanced sentencing treatment under Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), where defendant’s prior conviction for unlawful possession of machinegun did not qualify as “violent felony” under ACCA.