Criminal defense lawyers can face terrible choices during representation of certain criminal defendants.The following case is one of the most troubling cases on record.

In the 1970s a series of terrible abductions and suspected murders occurred in New York.A suspect, with a history of sexual assaults on young women,was eventually identified and charged with several abductions and murders. He was not eligible for bail and most likely would remain in custody. However, the bodies of the young women had not been recovered.The man was appointed 2 lawyers.Without the bodies the prosecution would have a difficult time proving their case.In addition, the families of the women desperately wanted to know what happened to their daughters.

The suspect knew that he could confess to his lawyers and that the lawyers were bound by their attorneys' oath not to reveal the confession.The defendant confessed to his lawyers and gave a detailed description of where the bodies were buried. One of the lawyers verified the locations by going to the burial sites.However, his oath prevented him from revealing the location of the bodies.At least one of the parents confronted the lawyer and asked him to help find his daughter so that she could be given a proper burial.The lawyer declined to give any information, or to acknowledge that he knew the location of the bodies.

Shortly after the trial started the defendant stood up in the court room, admitted that he had killed the women and told the court that he had confessed to his lawyers.He also said that he had told his lawyers the location of the bodies.The fallout was swift and severe.

The lawyers were criminally charged with obstruction of justice, physically threatened and became pariahs in their town. Eventually they were exonerated, but their legal careers were shattered.

The defendant was incarcerated in a prison in New York State.However, he escaped and a few days after his escape he was shot to death by law enforcement.

(1).Imagine that you are counsel for the defendant.What section(s) of the Rules of Professional Conduct can you rely upon tojustify not revealingwhat you were told by your client.

(2)Imagine that you are the prosecutor.Is there a section(s) of the Rules of Professional Conduct can you rely upon tocompel the lawyer to reveal what he was told.

(3)As a member of the community do you thinkthe Rules of Professional Conduct should be changed to compel the lawyer to reveal the location of the bodies?Why would the Rules of Professional Conduct prohibit a lawyer from revealing the location of the bodies?If the Rules are changed what impact, if any, will that have on the attorney/client privilege?