Court: Killer's conversations with husband not confidential

(AP) — A law protecting married couples' conversations as confidential doesn't apply to a convicted killer whose husband testified at trial about incriminating statements she made, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a love-triangle murder case.

The 7-0 ruling released Thursday said the Supreme Court concluded that Davalloo's self-incriminating statements to her husband were not confidential because they were not "induced by the affection, confidence, loyalty and integrity of the marital relationship," as required by state law.

Davalloo's husband, Paul Christos, testified during his wife's murder trial that she frequently told him stories about a friend, "Melissa," and the intimate details of Melissa's workplace love triangle with "Jack" and "Anna Lisa."

State prosecutor Timothy Sugrue said that while there is some gray area on confidential marital communications in state law, he believed it was clear that Davalloo's comments to her husband were not protected.

Rademacher, Davalloo's public defender, argued in court documents that his client's comments to her husband were "induced by the affection ... of the marital relationship" because she was admitting adultery to him.