I'm reposting here to see if you have any thoughts.
DC seems to be trying to once again avoid or delay his deposition. Previously there has been some confusion as for whom he may have been an agent; he cited he had - it sounded like simultaneous - contracts with KC, JB and also GA and CA. I remember JB freaking about work product and master interrogators or something equally Inquisition-sounding when the story broke about the video Hoover took of them searching on Suburban.
My question is:
If indeed he supposedly was an agent, but was never paid his fee, does that nullify any contract he would have had with work privilege/through JB? I remember JH saying DC told him he was owed $90K and I don't think he meant all of that was to be paid by the Anthonys, IIRC.
If he signed on directly as an agent for KC because JB did not have the money to pay him through his firm, would anything he did for KC have any kind of privilege? Also, those simultaneous contracts he kept mentioning; no one has yet to review them, have they? (I wonder if they magically appeared post-dated and after the fact as the contracts JB had with the Padillas allegedly did).
What DC is trying to do is assert that attorney-client privilege applies because he is/was a "member" of the defense team.
The general requirements for a valid assertion of attorney-client privilege in many jurisdictions in the United States are:
1. The asserted holder of the privilege is (or sought to become) a client; and
2. The person to whom the communication was made:
1. is a member of the bar of a court, or
his subordinate (agent), and
2. in connection with this communication, is acting as an attorney; and
3. The communication relates to a fact of which the attorney was informed:
1. by his client,
2. without the presence of strangers,
3. for the purpose of securing primarily either:
1. an opinion on law, or
2. legal services, or
3. assistance in some legal proceeding,
4. and not for the purpose of committing a crime or tort; and
4. The privilege has been claimed, and
5. The privilege has not been waived.[1]
The rules have nothing to do we payment.
"The professional relationship for purposes of the privilege hinges upon the
belief that one is consulting a lawyer and his intention to seek legal
advice. Wylie v. Marley Co., 891 F.2d 1463, 1471 (10th Cir. 1989).
Accordingly, the privilege applies to confidential communications
between an individual and a person he reasonably believes to be his
attorney, even if the attorney ultimately elects not to represent the
client, and even if the attorney is not a member of the bar. See U.S.There
v. Mullen, 776 F.Supp. 620, 621 (D. Mass. 1991)
But, Other limits to the privilege may apply depending on the situation being adjudicated; for instance, the crime-fraud exception can render the privilege moot when communications between an attorney and client are themselves used to further a crime or fraud. Clark v. United States
Therefore, if Casey was explaining were the body was to DC so that he could remove the evidence Privilege would not apply to that series of communications.
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