Opinion ID: 2212272
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Heading: Common Law Basis of Attorney-Client Privilege

Text: The attorney-client privilege derives from traditional principles of common law. (See, e.g., People v. Adam (1972), 51 Ill.2d 46, 280 N.E.2d 205.) The work-product doctrine is embodied in Supreme Court Rule 412(j)(i), which governs the attorney's right to the secrecy of the attorney's notes and legal strategies. (134 Ill.2d R. 412(j)(i).) This rule protects from disclosure an attorney's work product to the extent the documents or memoranda contain the opinions, theories or conclusions    of defense counsel or his staff. See also Monier v. Chamberlain (1966), 35 Ill.2d 351, 221 N.E.2d 410. The State argues in this appeal that the application of the privilege to defendant's communications with psychiatrists is unwarranted because a doctor is neither an extension of the defense attorney nor a mere conduit for information. We acknowledge that the secretary who types clients' documents and attorneys' notes performs a markedly different function from that of a physician who evaluates the mental condition of the client. Clerks, typists, and secretaries are typical examples of the attorney's ministerial agents for purposes of the privilege; doctors and other experts perform functions that differ in kind. While an expert is not an employee of an attorney in the same sense as are the staff members of a law firm, a defense attorney who believes his client's mental condition is critical to an insanity defense will require assistance from a specialist in the field of psychiatry. As a matter of due process, when the mental capacity of an accused forms the defense to the crime charged, the courts have held that the defendant is entitled to psychiatric assistance, which may well be crucial to the defendant's ability to marshal his defense. ( Ake v. Oklahoma (1985), 470 U.S. 68, 80, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 1095, 84 L.Ed.2d 53, 64; accord People v. Kegley (1988), 175 Ill.App.3d 335, 125 Ill. Dec. 42, 529 N.E.2d 1118.) In People v. Nichols (1979), 70 Ill.App.3d 748, 27 Ill.Dec. 21, 388 N.E.2d 984, the appellate court held that the trial court committed reversible error by denying the defendant's request for funds to retain a psychiatrist for a possible insanity defense; the fact that two doctors had already examined defendant as to his fitness to stand trial was held not to satisfy the need for an examination specifically to explore an insanity defense. In Knippenberg, this court held that an investigator's interview with the client, at the request of defense counsel, is protected by the attorney-client privilege. Knippenberg emphasized that lawyers have a duty to fully investigate their clients' cases; the court rejected the State's contention that an investigator is not necessary or essential to communication between the defendant and his attorney: [R]ealities of practice often require an attorney's use of investigators. Knippenberg, 66 Ill.2d at 284, 6 Ill.Dec. 46, 362 N.E.2d 681. The appellate court in the case at bar found that the rationale of Knippenberg applies with equal force to a psychiatrist or psychologist who, like Dr. Rossiter, is retained by defendant or defendant's attorney in order to assist counsel in the evaluation, preparation, or presentation of an insanity defense. Accordingly, under that holding, Dr. Rossiter's communications with defendant are protected by the attorney-client privilege absent a waiver of the privilege. (226 Ill.App.3d at 718, 168 Ill.Dec. 680, 589 N.E.2d 1080.) The appellate court then distinguished the instant case from the situation in People v. Speck (1968), 41 Ill.2d 177, 200, 242 N.E.2d 208. In Speck, this court held that the attorney-client privilege was not violated when the State called a fingerprint expert, who had consulted with the defense, to testify regarding the prints found at the crime scene. The expert did not reveal the contents of any conversation he had with defense counsel or defendant but merely gave his opinion that certain fingerprints found in the victims' residence belonged to Speck. The expert's testimony was based solely on his visual comparisons of the prints found at the crime scene to prints that were known to be defendant's. Unlike the expert's testimony in Speck, in the case at bar the opinion of the psychiatrist as to Knuckles' sanity will almost invariably result in large part from confidential communications with the defendant which would be directly or indirectly revealed if the psychiatrist testified on behalf of the State. 226 Ill.App.3d at 718, 168 Ill.Dec. 680, 589 N.E.2d 1080. Our research indicates that most courts presented with the issue have applied the attorney-client privilege to disclosures that defendants make to psychiatric experts retained by their attorneys to aid in the preparation of the defense. ( E.g., United States v. Alvarez (3d Cir.1975), 519 F.2d 1036; Houston v. State (Alaska 1979), 602 P.2d 784; People v. Lines (1975), 13 Cal.3d 500, 531 P.2d 793, 119 Cal.Rptr. 225; Miller v. District Court (Colo.1987), 737 P.2d 834, 836; State v. Toste (1979), 178 Conn. 626, 424 A.2d 293; State v. Pratt (1979), 284 Md. 516, 398 A.2d 421; People v. Hilliker (1971), 29 Mich. App. 543, 185 N.W.2d 831; State v. Kociolek (1957), 23 N.J. 400, 129 A.2d 417; Ballew v. State (Tex.Crim.App.1980), 640 S.W.2d 237. See also Pouncy v. State (Fla.App.1977), 353 So.2d 640; Ursry v. State (Fla.App.1983), 428 So.2d 713; Marano v. Holland (1988), 179 W.Va. 156, 366 S.E.2d 117.) In contrast, a few jurisdictions hold that a client's communications to a defense-retained psychiatrist are not shielded by the attorney-client privilege. See State v. Craney (Iowa 1984), 347 N.W.2d 668 (rejecting argument that the sixth amendment provided a constitutional attorney-client privilege and further holding that state statute did not shield client's revelations to psychiatrist); State v. Carter (Mo. 1982), 641 S.W.2d 54 (narrowly construing statute barring disclosure of communications made to attorney by client) (three judges dissenting). In States that have codified the attorney-client privilege by statute, the better-reasoned decisions acknowledge the common law roots of the privilege as well as the constitutional concerns that may arise if a criminal defendant is forced to reveal information gathered as part of the defense investigation. (See, e.g., Miller v. District Court (Colo. 1987), 737 P.2d 834, 837; State v. Pratt (1979), 284 Md. 516, 519, 398 A.2d 421, 423; Ballew v. State (Tex.Crim.App.1980), 640 S.W.2d 237, 239-40.) In Miller, the Colorado Supreme Court recognized the applicability of the attorney-client privilege to communications between the client and a defense-retained psychiatrist, even though the Colorado attorney-client statute does not expressly include psychiatrists in its listing of agents that are subject to the privilege. In contrast to the above, Missouri's highest court has limited Missouri's statutory attorney-client privilege to communications made between the client and attorney only, stating that the attorney-client privilege is created by statute. ( State v. Carter (Mo.1982), 641 S.W.2d 54, 57.) The court in Carter held that admission of adverse testimony of a defense-retained psychiatrist was not within the statutory privilege, did not violate the work-product doctrine, and did not deprive defendant of the sixth amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. Three justices in Carter dissented, however, in two separate opinions. As to the scope of the Missouri attorney-client provision, the dissenters observed that the statute simply embodied the common law attorney-client privilege. The dissenters observed that Missouri precedent had already applied the attorney-client privilege to defense communications with an insurance adjuster; therefore, the statute did not bar the extension of the privilege to defense-retained psychiatrists. ( Carter, 641 S.W.2d at 64 (Seiler, J., dissenting, joined by Welliver & Bardgett, JJ.).) One of the dissenters noted that the majority's ruling would cause attorneys to render ineffective assistance of counsel, Carter, 641 S.W.2d at 66-67 (Welliver, J., dissenting). We believe that Illinois should accord the common law attorney-client privilege the scope necessary to meet the complexities of modern legal practice. This court's opinion in Knippenberg reflects that view. Testimonial privileges are, by their nature, inconsistent with the search for truth. ( E.g., People v. Sanders (1983), 99 Ill.2d 262, 270, 75 Ill. Dec. 682, 457 N.E.2d 1241.) Privileges will prevent otherwise relevant and admissible evidence from being disclosed. Accordingly, if we were to accept the argument that the relevance of the evidence justified its admission, notwithstanding the attorney-client privilege, no claim of privilege could ever prevail. The exception would devour the rule.