My understanding of attorney/client privilege is that it doesn’t cover the commission of ongoing or future crimes. Now suppose somebody escapes from custody and then contacts a lawyer to discuss the legal aspects of his escape. Is this covered under attorney/client privilege? Is the crime of escaping something that is considered to have happned in the past at the time of the initial escape or is it an ongoing crime that continues to occur as long as the escapee is a fugitive? Would the attorney be liable if he doesn’t call the police and provide them with any information he has about his client’s whereabouts? (To keep it simple, let’s assume there is no evidence that the fugitive is committing or plans to commit any other crimes.)
My first thought was that the attorney couldn’t reveal any information the client divulged, but couldn’t offer any advice or assitance that could facilitate further commission of the crime. Some quick and dirty googling shows some California law that backs that up:
However, it also turns up some Pennsylvania Bar Association opinion that differs slightly, at least in a civil case:
My suspiscion is that the former rule is going to apply in a majority of jurisdictions, but if I were the lawyer I’d call the State Bar’s ethics hotline to be sure.