For nine years, lawyer kept client's secret regarding murder case
This story highlights some of the damnable ethical dilemmas that attorneys, in particular criminal defense lawyers, often face. In 1999, Florida lawyer Jay Hebert's client told him that she had helped to bury the body of a missing real estate agent. Her boyfriend at the time had murdered his wife, the real estate agent, and she helped to dispose of the body.
For nine years Hebert lived with this knowledge, as his client refused to come forward and he was bound by attorney client privilege not to reveal the information revealed to him in confidence. The client finally decided to talk, after Hebert negotiated a deal for her immunity in exchange for the information, the body has been found, and the (now ex I presume) boyfriend has been charged with first degree murder.
The attorney client privilege is an ethical rule that is inviolate. Most lawyers, myself included, have clients' secrets that we will carry to our graves. Blogger Jon Katz recently commented on client's families who insist on being present during meetings, and how he deals with this. The issue is that whenever a third person is in the room, technically there is no attorney client privilege. That third person can reveal what was said, and hypothetically a judge could then force the attorney to reveal those confidences.
The way I deal with this is to sit down first with the client and his or her family, explain to the family that I will be glad to discuss procedural matters with them or how things are looking in general, but when it comes to the details of what my client tells me, that is between them. If it is a parent, I encourage my client to be honest with them about what happened, but I cannot tell them what my client reveals to me and once we begin discussing details of the alleged crime everyone but my client must leave the room. Although some have not liked this, I have never had to refuse to accept a client or have one leave because of it.
Attorney client confidentiality, like the priest-penitent privilege, is essential because without it clients would not be able to speak freely with their counsel. I believe that to do the best that I can for a client I need them to be able to trust me with the truth about their case without fear of being sold down the river to the government.
