# I have a question about how attorney/client privilege works.



## ironpony (May 28, 2017)

Basically in fiction a lot of times when someone is arrested and asks for a lawyer, the lawyer can talk to him about whatever he wants and the cops or prosecutor, cannot listen in.  However, lawyers are legally obligated to share all the information they have in a case.  If a client tells a lawyer, about the crime, and that he/she did it, the lawyer is then obligated to share that with the prosecutor.  So what is the point of attorney/client privilege, when the attorney, has to share everything?


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## NeenaDiHope (May 28, 2017)

My understanding is that they have to share any evidence that they turn up and a list of anyone testifying, not conversations they have with their client. The defense attorney's job is to find as much information as possible so they can show enough doubt about their client to get them out of trouble. "Innocent until proven guilty" is the name of the game, one side tries to prove guilt while the other side tries to debunk what they have found. All of this is based on evidence and witness testimonies not conversations had with the defendant. So Attorney/Client privilege does exist and is held by the attorney of said client.


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## ironpony (May 30, 2017)

Okay thanks.  But when I asked a legal expert about it before they said that if the attorney has to share whatever the client tells them by law, and that the attorney is not allowed to keep secrets about the case at all though.


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## aj47 (May 30, 2017)

In what jurisdiction is your work set?  No, the defense does not necessarily have to tell the prosecutor if they know the guy is guilty.  In the US, the defense's job is to *make the prosecutor prove guilt*, not to prove anything.


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## NeenaDiHope (May 30, 2017)

I found this online it might be helpful.


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## ironpony (May 30, 2017)

Okay thanks.  In my story, one of the cop's who is testifying in court against the defendant is actually a corrupt cop working for the defendant, and as he testifies, he plans on lying, to help get the defendant off, and he already lied in his prior report on the case, leaving out certain details, such as him being a corrupt cop who is actually in collusion with the crime.

I wrote it so that the defendant tells his attorney, that one of the police witnesses on the case, is actually in collusion with him.  The defendant tells the attorney this so the attorney can prepare a better case.  But the attorney cannot tell the prosecutor that, for his case to work of course.

After the defendant gets off, cause the case doesn't hold together, the main character, wants to know what really happened in the crime.  So he breaks into the attorney's office and pulls up the file to read his notes on what the defendant told him.  He then finds out that one of the cops on the case, was in collusion with the defendant all along.

However, I was told that an attorney would not write this down in his notes, if his client told him that, and that he would be required to devulge the information to the prosecutor on the cop being in collusion.

But if the attorney/client conversation is privileged, would the defense attorney, be required to say anything?  Or is he in his legal right, to tell not tell the prosecutor that his witness is secretly in collusion with the defendant, cause it's attorney/client privilege... and it's the therefore the prosecutor's job, to find his own cracks?


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## K.S. Crooks (Jun 2, 2017)

The prosecutor must give all obtained information to the defence. The defence doesn't have to give anything to the prosecutor. This is done to even out the fact that the government has a tremendous amount of money and resources such as the police and doctors to gather evidence and conduct tests. A lawyer cannot take part in a criminal enterprise by supporting their client in some type of illegal activity or knowingly withhold evidence if someone's life is at risk.


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## ironpony (Jun 6, 2017)

Okay thanks.  Well I was told by someone that knows more than me that the lawyer would have to divulge the info of the cop witness, being secretly in collusion, with the client.  But if that's not the case, then I guess it works for my story, since no one's life is at risk.  The defense lawyer, is not involved any illegal activity though.


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