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News: TX criminal defense lawyer resists subpoena for papers in his office, so judge issues a search warrant for the lawyer's office

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

In a move dangerous in both its Fourth and Sixth Amendment implications, a Collin County Texas district judge issued a search warrant for a criminal defense lawyer's office when the lawyer resisted a subpoena. The prosecutor apparently seeks to disqualify defense counsel from the case so he can testify as a witness. For a news article see Detectives Seize Documents From Murder-For-Hire Suspect's Attorney from Channel 5 in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Blogs are Collin County Observer (with background), Grits for Breakfast, and Simple Justice. This is almost Kafkaesque. Don't like the defense lawyer? Search his office and disqualify him to make him a witness to your case. Except that it isn't supposed to work that way in the United States. The law recognizes this predicament already; assuming the evidence gets in at all...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 19, 2008 (boomark / email).