Conferring with arrested client
Conferring with arrested client
Often counsel will not meet his or her client until after arrest. The experience of arrest for a computer crime is likely to be unsettling for many computer crime defendants. Before such important matters as finding out what happened can even begin to be discussed, it is necessary to establish some contact with the defendant, and often to acknowledge the pain he or she must be feeling as a result of landing in jail. Frequently no matter is of any importance to them other than learning when they will get out of custody. Perhaps next in importance is receiving some assurance that any discomforts that the client has experienced since the arrest can somehow be ameliorated now that the attorney is on the scene. Consequently the attorney will do well to have checked into the possibilities of having the client released on bail or on his or her own recognizanceFN62 prior to actually speaking with the client.
It is not a violation of the expectation of privacy to eavesdrop on an attorney-client conversation even if it takes place in jail.FN63 Consequently if it appears likely that the client will soon be released, or if the client appears reticent to talk, it might be wise to defer substantive conversations to a later time. Where there is reason to believe that the conversations are not secure, then the argument for deferring substantive discussions is even greater.
The client should be reminded that every person he or she meets in jail has an obvious motivation to turn informer against him or her, and therefore, any discussion about the case with any of the other people in jail is inadvisable. Many criminal defendants make the mistake of discussing their case with fellow inmates. Some may do this because the cause of incarceration is a major topic in jail. Others may do it seeking to curry favor with more assaultive criminals who happen to be in jail at the same time. In either case, it is important to remind the client at the outset that his or her fellow prisoners are likely to need favors from the prosecution, and that they will often attempt to use information gained in in-house conversation to reduce the likelihood of their own punishment.