What if the client tells his lawyer that he murdered someone; does the lawyer have to report it?
Full Question:
What if the client tells his lawyer that he murdered someone; does the lawyer have to report it or what? I thought what you told your lawyer was supposed to be confidential.
07/24/2007 |
Category: Criminal |
State: Louisiana |
#7449
Answer:
A lawyer has a duty to disclose information designed to prevent planned criminal action. Most states have a version of this discretionary disclosure rule under Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6 (or its equivalent). However, these exceptions to the lawyer-client privilege generally do not cover crimes that have already occurred, even in extreme cases where murderers have confessed the location of missing bodies to their lawyers but the police are still looking for those bodies.
