{"id":335001,"date":"2025-12-08T15:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/legal\/on-threats-and-the-attorney-client-privilege-in-moore\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:08:56","slug":"on-threats-and-the-attorney-client-privilege-in-moore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=335001","title":{"rendered":"On threats and the attorney-client privilege in Moore"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

The \u201cattorney-client privilege<\/a>\u201d protects confidential communications between a client and their attorney.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As an exception to the general rule that all relevant facts should be available in the truth-seeking process, the purpose of the privilege is to encourage clients to be open and honest with their lawyers.<\/p>\n

The privilege belongs to the client, not the attorney.\u00a0 It can cover oral, written, and even certain non-verbal communications.\u00a0 It does not apply to non-legal communications or information shared with third parties.<\/p>\n

D.C. courts<\/a> generally follow the \u201cWigmore test\u201d providing that:<\/p>\n

(1)where legal advice of any kind is sought (2) from a professional legal advisor in his capacity as such, (3) the communications relating to that purpose, (4) made in confidence (5) by the client, (6) are at his instance permanently protected (7) from disclosure by himself or by the legal advisor, (8) except the protection be waived.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are also certain exceptions to the privilege; that is, instances in which the privilege either can be waived or does not apply.\u00a0 For example, many courts recognize an exception to the attorney-client privilege where an attorney brings an action against their client for lack of payment.\u00a0 In addition, a client is not allowed to use the attorney\u2019s services to promote criminal activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The D.C. Court of Appeals recently issued a decision pertaining to felony threats and the attorney-client privilege in Brian Moore v. United States<\/em>, __ A.3d __ (D.C. 2025).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Criminal defense attorney John Harvey represented Moore in a criminal contempt proceeding.\u00a0 After a hearing at which the D.C. prosecutor argued for more stringent pretrial release conditions, Moore expressed frustration to his attorney in the courtroom hallway.\u00a0 Specifically, Moore promised multiple times to \u201cfuck that bitch. Shoot that bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvey told Moore that he could no longer \u201cbe a part of this\u201d and attempted to withdraw.\u00a0 He also consulted D.C. bar counsel to learn that he was permitted to disclose the threats to the court but was not required to.<\/p>\n

The trial court initially declined Harvey\u2019s request to withdraw because Harvey \u201crefused to explain why he wanted to withdraw and what Mr. Moore had said.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, when Moore again threatened to kill the prosecutor at a subsequent hearing, Harvey again attempted to withdraw.\u00a0 This time Harvey also disclosed the reason, and Moore was subsequently conviction of felony threats, with Harvey testifying against him at trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court held:<\/p>\n

The attorney-client privilege does not protect communications that themselves constitute criminal threats to cause death or substantial bodily harm.\u00a0 We reach this conclusion because exempting serious, objectively credible threats from the attorney-client privilege (1) prevents clients from abusing the privilege (and therefore flows logically from the foundation for the crime-fraud exception to the privilege and (2) is grounded in strong historical roots.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cattorney-client privilege\u201d protects confidential communications between a client and their attorney.\u00a0\u00a0 As an exception to the general rule that all relevant facts should be available in the truth-seeking process, the purpose of the privilege is to encourage clients to be open and honest with their lawyers. The privilege belongs to the client, not the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[160188,6572,30325,16937],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-335001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal","tag-attorneyclient","tag-moore","tag-privilege","tag-threats"],"yoast_head":"\nOn threats and the attorney-client privilege in Moore - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=335001\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On threats and the attorney-client privilege in Moore - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The \u201cattorney-client privilege\u201d protects confidential communications between a client and their attorney.\u00a0\u00a0 As an exception to the general rule that all relevant facts should be available in the truth-seeking process, the purpose of the privilege is to encourage clients to be open and honest with their lawyers. 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