United States v. McPartlin

Frederick Ingram and Robert McPartlin (defendants), charged together with wire fraud and conspiracy, hired separate attorneys but both wanted to discredit entries in a diary kept by William Benton. An investigator hired by Ingram's attorney interviewed McPartlin, with both attorneys' consent, about Benton's diary; during that interview McPartlin made statements that happened to be exculpatory toward Ingram. At trial, Ingram tried to introduce McPartlin's statements to the investigator, but McPartlin objected on attorney-client privilege grounds, and the trial court sustained the objection. Both were convicted, and Ingram appealed, arguing the privilege should not apply because their defenses were not entirely compatible.