Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Southern California Criminal Defense Blog

Criminal Law

: Southern California Criminal Defense Blog

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DEFENDANT?S RIGHT TO CONFRONTATION CONFLICTS WITH WITNESS?S ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE?

By Walin & Klarich

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution assures the defendant the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses. Under California Evidence Code section 594, ?a client. . .has a privilege to disclose or refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between client and lawyer if the privilege is claimed by (a) the holder of the privilege, [or] (b) a person who is authorized to claim the privilege by the holder of the privilege.? Both the right to confrontation and the attorney-client privilege have long been recognized at common law, so what happens when the two directly conflict? The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, recently addressed this issue in Murdoch v. Castro (No...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on June 23, 2010 (boomark / email).