Hypothetical: Police vs. Attorney-client privilege

[Bunnykid68]

If a guy shows up to represent me I fully expect to sign a contract that he will defend me and my rights to the full extent of his abilities. If he is unwilling to that I am unwilling to speak to them.

Actually, I would call Guy or Kirk and have them recommend a lawyer for that particular type of case and know who I was expecting.

 

[Bill of Rights]

As a retired LEO command officer I can confidently say no dice.

Once the detainee has invoked his Miranda rights there can be no interrogation until the subject has had the advice of counsel.

Let's say the masquerading officer is actually an attorney. This is a loophole, right? Nope. If he represents himself as the detainee's attorney he is legally and ethically bound to represent his client's interests, and maintain attorney-client privilege. If he fails to do so he'll be committing a crime, and being disbarred is a certainty. No cop who has gone to the trouble and expense of becoming an attorney would risk this.

If the cop is not an attorney at all, but represents himself to be one, listening to his "client's" story, he'll be practicing law without a license...big trouble. Nothing he learns will be admissible, due to the clear violation of Miranda, and prosecution will be pretty well impossible.

This might make for an interesting twist in a TV crime drama but it has no relation to reality.

Liberty,

I knew about the point of a (real) attorney having to follow through once he's represented himself as being there to defend the client... I threw that possibility in there to avoid the "practicing without a license" (although, and I've not looked it up yet, if all he does is listen to the story, I'm not sure that he'd be practicing, though definitely representing himself as such. Is it a crime to represent yourself as an attorney (or to give the impression that you are one when you are not?)) There was a recent thread on here where Kirk gave an excellent set of answers, giving insight into the question of "impersonating a police officer"; several points at which I'd have said the person was doing so, he said they were not and showed why not.

Indeed, the only reason I can think of why a LEA would have an officer do this would indeed be the unrealistic stuff of TV drama, i.e. child locked in underground container, has only a limited amount of oxygen, etc.

Aaaaaaaand that's when someone proves the adage: Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool:

Link >>>> Tennessee Cops Posed as a Defense Attorney to Get Suspect To Incriminate Himself | The Agitator

(To clarify, I used "fool" in this context to refer to these specific officers for pulling a stunt like this. The term is not used to refer to Jack Burton, who merely reposted it.)

Blessings,
Bill

 

[lrahm]

Criminally? Lots of maybes, but don't think any PA would do it.

Contempt of court might be a possibility.

I think the remedy should be a suppression of the statements and potentially barring that officer from testifying.

I agree. The client would more than likely get all statements made, suppressed (and rightfully so). I kind of doubt if this would happen because since he isn't talking, more than likely he would probably be charged and sent to jail and the dime would be on him to contact a lawyer. If not then a court appointed lawyer would be set at the initial hearing at the first possible court date to represent him.

I also hope that any department wouldn't do something like that. But, I have heard dumber things happen.

 

[Banshee]

As of Jan 1 2011. all Felony police interrogations, or interviews if you will, must be recorded via video...I doubt a situation like the one described would ever exist.

I have "heard" of a situation where two police officers in uniform interrogated a suspect who had already waived his Miranda warning. When things started to get tense and it seemed like the suspect was about to lawyer up the police officers left the interview room. Five minutes later a male entered wearing a suit. The male was much older than the interrogating officers. The man in a suit never stated he was a lawyer. He actually never asked the man any questions. The suspect began spilling the beans, assuming he was a attorney.His statements were voluntary. Essentially he gave his confession to a police officer who was near retirement wearing and wearing a suit. It never made it to trial because of a plea deal. This supposedly happened in Bedford in the early 1980's