“GZ’s wife as a pawn. They will either use her to force GZ to plea, or she will be forced to testify against GZ”
———————Can a spouse be compelled to take the stand either for of against a spouse?
Can a spouse be compelled to take the stand either for of against a spouse?
Not “officially”, as a documented quid pro quo. But faced with the prospect of prison for him- or herself, a spouse can choose to be “cooperative”; and, the accused can confess to something to protect a spouse. Giving an arrestee a glimpse of the wife elsewhere in the jail, then implying wives and children were also to be charged unless..., was a classic OGPU/NKVD method to extract confessions.