Zigman

Real party in interest and appellant Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Astrid Megan Reynolds (Deputy Reynolds) appeals from the trial court’s judgment granting a petition for writ of administrative mandate filed by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RSD) against arbitrator Louis M. Zigman. This case concerns an appeal from an eight-hour reduction in pay for Deputy Reynolds for having violated RSD policy by failing to inform her supervisors of a conversation in which her husband, Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy James Reynolds, admitted that he used and stole methamphetamine. The arbitrator who heard Deputy Reynolds’s administrative appeal stated that he overturned the discipline because it was based on a communication between Deputy Reynolds and her husband that was protected by the marital privilege. The major issue in this appeal is whether the marital communications privilege applies in law enforcement administrative investigations and hearings. A secondary issue is whether Deputy Reynolds voluntarily waived any such privilege.

As discussed below, we conclude the privilege does not apply in law enforcement administrative investigations and hearings. Our…