The marital privilege is available until the marriage is dissolved by a final judgment of dissolution even if the marriage became nonviable years before. Applying rules of statutory construction, as well as rules governing evidentiary privileges, the Court determined the trial court erred when it denied defendant’s estranged wife’s assertion of the marital testimonial privilege and ordered her to testify. Although their divorce had been pending for years, defendant and his wife were still legally married at the time of trial, and there is no exception to the marital privilege if the marriage is nonviable.