Clutchette v. Rushen
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
770 F.2d 1469 (9th Cir. 1985)
Relevant factsFree
Clutchette (defendant), charged with murder, told his attorney where to find receipts from an upholstery shop that were important to the prosecution's case; the attorney sent Clutchette's wife, who was working as an investigator, to retrieve them, but she turned the receipts over to police instead. At trial, the court excluded all communications about the receipts as privileged but admitted the physical receipts themselves; Clutchette was convicted and appealed.
IssueFree
Whether physical evidence is protected under the attorney-client privilege if the evidence is moved from its original location.