NCJ Number
137619
Journal
Harvard Law Review Volume: 105 Issue: 3 Dated: (January 1992) Pages: 670- 724
Date Published
1992
Length
55 pages
Annotation
In light of the increasing numbers of drug and organized crime cases, courts have begun to confront a new type of attorney-client relationship that has prompted them to restrict the traditional right to counsel protections.
Abstract
The discrete attorney-client interaction comes into play after each separate prosecution begins; the defendants' interest in legal assistance extends only to representation on specific or potential charges based on previous behavior. In the relational representation that has emerged in corporate and criminal enterprise cases, the attorney may have a prominent role in preventing prosecution by helping the client avoid criminal behavior or avoid detection or by discouraging a prosecutor from proceeding. The courts have faced three major issues in making this distinction: the right of codefendants to waive conflict-free representation, the ability of government investigators to contact persons known to be represented by counsel, and the propriety of applying forfeiture laws to funds intended for criminal defense. The author argues that some courts have placed society's interest in an accurate verdict above the defendant's right to counsel. In ruling on relational representation, the judiciary must consider its social value in certain factual contexts in order to avoid giving the prosecution another tool to weaken the effectiveness of the defense. 233 notes