Evidence—Massachusetts Explains “Living with a Parent” Requirement of Parent-Child Testimonial Exclusion—In the Matter of a Grand Jury Investigation, 819 N.E.2d 171 (Mass. 2004)

Massachusetts General Laws chapter 233, § 20 states that all people of “sufficient understanding” may offer evidence in criminal and civil proceedings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Notwithstanding this broad principle of inclusion, the statute’s fourth clause expressly defines an exception that prevents children living with a parent from testifying against that parent.  In In the Matter of a Grand Jury Investigation, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts considered the exclusion’s intent and questioned the breadth of the phrase “living with a parent.”  The court commented that privileges and exclusions were to be narrowly construed, and concluded that the statutory exception should be given its plain, unambiguous meaning. . . .