Table of Contents
- 1 Can you tell your attorney you killed someone?
- 2 Can a lawyer disclose his clients?
- 3 How do you prove breach of confidentiality?
- 4 What happens when a lawyer knows their client is guilty?
- 5 What happens if a defendant does not admit to a crime?
- 6 Does the prosecution have enough evidence to prove a client committed murder?
Can you tell your attorney you killed someone?
The short answer is yes. You are protected by something called client-attorney (or lawyer) privilege. Anything you discuss with your lawyer is protected, also known as privileged. If you tell your lawyer you murdered someone, they won’t share this with the police.
Can a lawyer disclose his clients?
The attorney-client privilege is a rule that preserves the confidentiality of communications between lawyers and clients. Under that rule, attorneys may not divulge their clients’ secrets, nor may others force them to.
Is everything you tell a lawyer confidential?
The duty of confidentiality prevents lawyers from even informally discussing information related to their clients’ cases with others. They must keep private almost all information related to representation of the client, even if that information didn’t come from the client.
How do you prove breach of confidentiality?
Breach of confidentiality and whistleblowing
- The information must have the necessary quality of confidence.
- The information must have been received in circumstances giving rise an obligation of confidence.
- There must be an unauthorised use of that information to the detriment of the rights holder.
What happens when a lawyer knows their client is guilty?
If a lawyer knows their client is guilty, it really shouldn’t change anything. They will act in the interest of society as well (to a certain extent): Try and get an appropriate and reasonable charge for the crime the client is accused of. What does a lawyer do in this case?
Why do lawyers not ask you if you committed a crime?
A defendant may have done the act in question, but the client may have a valid defense that would exonerate him. For these reasons, among others, defense lawyers often do not ask their clients if they committed the crime. Instead, the lawyer uses the facts to put on the best defense possible and leaves the question of guilt to the judge or jury.
What happens if a defendant does not admit to a crime?
If the client does not admit to the crime to the defense attorney in confidence — even if the evidence against the client appears to be overwhelming — the defense attorney can put the defendant on the stand and ask the defendant questions because the defendant will not give what is known to the attorney as an untruthful answer.
Does the prosecution have enough evidence to prove a client committed murder?
Depends on what you mean by “the client committed murder”. (For the purposes of this answer we’ll assume the prosecution does in fact have enough evidence to prove the defendant committed the act.) If you mean “the client killed someone but they may possibly have a legal defense for it”…