Opinion ID: 2585993
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Implied Waiver of the Attorney-Client Privilege

Text: The attorney-client privilege may be waived explicitly or, on occasion, impliedly. Any waiver must be demonstrated by evidence that the client, by words or conduct, has expressly or impliedly forsaken his or her claim of confidentiality with respect to the information in question and, thus, has consented to its disclosure. People v. Sickich, 935 P.2d 70, 73 (Colo.App.1996). There is no suggestion here that Gomez explicitly waived the privilege, so our analysis focuses on whether Gomez impliedly waived the privilege by entering into a plea agreement that obligated her to provide truthful testimony. We previously have found implied waivers of the privilege in two situations: when a client asserts a claim or defense that focuses on advice given by the attorney, see, e.g., Morse v. People, 180 Colo. 49, 501 P.2d 1328 (1972); and when a client discloses privileged communications to a third party. See, e.g., Lanari v. People, 827 P.2d 495, 500 (Colo. 1992). In this case, we conclude that Gomez did not impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege because she neither placed privileged communications at issue by negotiating a plea agreement in which she agreed to testify truthfully, nor did she disclose privileged information to a third party. [1]
The first way in which a client might impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege is to place privileged communications at issue. The rationale for an implied waiver in those circumstances is that the law will not permit a client to use as a sword the protection which is awarded him as a shield. Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co. v. DiFede, 780 P.2d 533, 544 (Colo.1989). In other words, if a client asserts a claim or defense that depends upon privileged information, she cannot simultaneously use the privilege to keep that information from the opposing party. In order to waive the privilege in this manner, the client must commit some affirmative act that places the privileged information at issue. Madera, 112 P.3d at 691-92. Accordingly, we have held in several cases that, where a client asserts a defense or a claim based on the propriety of advice given by her attorney, she waives the privilege with respect to that advice. See, e.g., Stone v. Satriana, 41 P.3d 705, 710 (Colo. 2002) (When a client brings a malpractice allegation, the attorney-client privilege is deemed impliedly waived.); Morse, 180 Colo. at 54, 501 P.2d at 1331 (holding that, if a client testifies to the alleged incompetence of counsel, the client waives the attorney-client privilege); Sickich, 935 P.2d at 73 ([B]ecause defendant put in issue what advice he did or did not receive from counsel, as well as his own understanding of the proceedings, he waived the attorney-client privilege with respect to his discussions with counsel on these topics.). Similarly, in Madera, a criminal defendant entered a plea agreement but then later sought to withdraw his plea, claiming that he did not understand the implications of his plea because of ineffective assistance of counsel. See 112 P.3d at 689. We held, on those facts, that Madera waived the attorney-client privilege with respect to communications with his counsel regarding the sentence he would face by pleading guilty. Id. at 691. In this case the trial court held, and Trujillo argues to this Court, that Gomez took an affirmative act sufficient to impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege when she entered into a plea agreement with the district attorney and promised to provide truthful testimony. Trujillo first contends that, simply by entering into the plea agreement, Gomez waived the attorney-client privilege with respect to all previously confidential statements that related to the subject matter of her plea agreement. We are aware of no authority, nor has Trujillo identified any such authority, that would support the proposition that a defendant waives the attorney-client privilege simply by entering into a plea agreement. In fact, our decision in Madera supports a contrary proposition. In Madera, we found that the defendant had put the advice he received from his attorney at issue by claiming ineffective assistance of counsel with regard to his plea agreement. 112 P.3d at 692. The key fact in Madera, however, was that he challenged the adequacy of the advice that he had received in conjunction with the plea agreement. Id. at 689. We in no way suggested that simply entering into the plea agreement waived the privilege between Madera and his counsel. In this case, unlike the defendant in Madera, Gomez has not challenged the propriety of her plea nor the adequacy of her representation in any way. We therefore hold that she did not impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege simply by entering into a plea agreement. Nor are we persuaded by Trujillo's second argument namely, that Gomez impliedly waived the attorney-client privilege because she put her credibility at issue by agreeing to provide truthful testimony. We hold that agreeing to provide truthful testimony in conjunction with a plea agreement does not effect a waiver of the attorney-client privilege. Indeed, to hold otherwise could have unintended consequences that could dramatically diminish the protections of the attorney-client privilege. Every witness who offers trial testimony under oath has an obligation imposed by law to tell the truth. See § 18-8-502, C.R.S. (2006) (defining the crime of perjury in the first degree). In light of this legal obligation, if we were to conclude that Gomez waived the attorney-client privilege by agreeing to provide truthful testimony, our decision would be tantamount to holding that every witness waives the attorney-client privilege with respect to all communications with his attorney about the subject of his testimony. We cannot countenance such a broad interpretation of implied waiver of the attorney-client privilege. We therefore hold that neither the fact that Gomez entered into the plea agreement nor the fact that she promised to provide truthful testimony constitutes an affirmative act that impliedly waived the attorney-client privilege.
The second way in which a client might impliedly waive the attorney-client privilege is to disclose privileged communications to a third party. See, e.g., Wesp, 33 P.3d at 198 (noting that if a communication to which the privilege has previously attached is subsequently disclosed to a third party, then the protection afforded by the privilege is impliedly waived); Lanari, 827 P.2d at 500 (holding that statements made initially in confidence to an attorney lose the shield of the attorney-client privilege if the statements are subsequently disclosed to third parties); Fearnley v. Fearnley, 44 Colo. 417, 430, 98 P. 819, 824 (1908) (citing Hunt v. Blackburn, 128 U.S. 464, 470, 9 S.Ct. 125, 32 L.Ed. 488 (1888)) (finding that a client's disclosure of information protected by the attorney-client privilege waives the privilege); see also People v. Medina, 72 P.3d 405, 408 (Colo.App. 2003), cert. denied (June 30, 2003) (holding that, where a client authorized his attorney to deliver to his victim's family a letter containing inculpatory statements, he waived the privilege with respect to the letter). There was no such disclosure to a third party here. It is true that, as Trujillo argued below, Gomez gave recorded statements to a third partythat is, to the prosecution. Nowhere, however, does Trujillo argue that the statements given by Gomez to the prosecution contained privileged information. Nor does the record before us indicate that Gomez's statements to the prosecution contained any privileged information. [2] Rather, it appears that Gomez's statements consisted of only her factual assertions regarding the alleged robbery at issue. Such statements of fact are not protected by the attorney-client privilege. See Gordon v. Boyles, 9 P.3d 1106, 1123 (Colo.2000) (noting that the privilege protects only the communications to the attorney; it does not protect any underlying and otherwise unprivileged facts that are incorporated into a client's communication to his attorney); see also State v. Dixon, 668 S.W.2d 123, 126 (Mo.Ct. App.1984) (Where a party does not testify as to privileged communications with his attorney, he does not waive the privileged character of the communications.). Here, the record shows that the statements made by Gomez to the prosecution contained only factual assertions regarding the underlying crime charged and contained no privileged communications. Because Gomez did not disclose any privileged information to the prosecution by virtue of giving a statement about the alleged robbery, her statement did not waive the attorney-client privilege. See, e.g., People v. Lynch, 23 N.Y.2d 262, 296 N.Y.S.2d 327, 244 N.E.2d 29, 35 (1968) ([T]estimony about an event, even when the witness is protected by immunity, should not be construed as a waiver of the privilege, merely because the subject matter of the testimony may also have been discussed in the privileged communication.); State v. Hollins, 184 N.W.2d 676, 678-79 (Iowa 1971) (quoting from, and holding in accord with, People v. Lynch ). By issuing the subpoena duces tecum to Pauly, Trujillo hopes to discover whether Gomez made statements to Pauly that do not appear in, or seem to contradict, her statements made to the prosecution. In this manner, Trujillo seeks precisely the kind of information protected by the attorney-client privilege; that is, he seeks to require Pauly to disclose what Gomez told him. Trujillo's attempt to gain access to such information where Gomez has not waived the privilege flies in the face of the traditional notion of the protections afforded by the attorney-client privilege: The client cannot be compelled to answer the question, What did you say or write to the attorney? but may not refuse to disclose any relevant fact within his knowledge merely because he incorporated a statement of such fact into his communication to his attorney. Upjohn Co. v. United States, 449 U.S. 383, 396, 101 S.Ct. 677, 66 L.Ed.2d 584 (1981) (citation omitted). Just as the client cannot be compelled to testify about what she told her attorney, the attorney cannot be compelled to produce documents from his file that reflect what the client told him. In sum, Gomez neither placed any privileged communications at issue nor disclosed any privileged communications to a third party. We thus conclude that the trial court erred as a matter of law when it found that Gomez impliedly waived the attorney-client privilege. There having been no waiver of the privilege, the trial court's order for in camera review of Pauly's file was unwarranted. The motions to quash filed by Pauly should have been granted.