Court Opinion

ID: 9844495
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:03:42.043777+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:36.386804
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, J.
I concur and I agree generally with the rationale by which the majority dispose of the case before us. But I do not agree with the broad holding that the majority opinion appears to announce and therefore feel I should emphasize my own views.
I agree that under the particular circumstances of this case, the financial eligibility statement signed by defendant and the communications between defendant and Mr. Porter (the public defender’s legal assistant) relating to defendant’s financial eligibility are protected by the attorney-client privilege. These communications took place in the privacy of an interviewing room in the Santa Clara County jail. Defendant then and there apparently believed that he was being represented by the public defender and therefore, in response to Mr. Porter’s questions, freely and readily provided the information appearing on the statement. He was not told at any time that the purpose of the document was to determine whether or not he qualified for the appointment of the public defender as counsel for his defense on the basis of his indigency. During his interview with Mr. Porter, who was not a member of the State Bar, defendant was not aware, nor was he ever made aware, of the fact that his communications with the interviewer were other than those of a confidential nature, made in the course of an attorney-client relationship. Under these circumstances, it is apparent that defendant thought that the communications were confidential and he had a reasonable expectation that they would remain so. (Evid. Code, § 952; City & County of S.F. v. Superior Court (1951) 37 Cal.2d 227, 234-235 [231 P.2d 26, 25 A.L.R.2d 1418].)
On the other hand, if the procedures followed in situations like the present one are such that the defendant is made aware of their nature and purpose and understands that he will not be represented by the public defender until he has established his indigency, then any information given by him either orally or in writing for that purpose cannot properly be considered a “confidential communication” covered by the attorney-client privilege. (8 Wigmore, Evidence (McNaughton rev. ed. 1961) § 2304.) Under such circumstances, information given by the defendant to establish his financial eligibility for free legal assistance, in my view, would not *709constitute “information transmitted between a client and his lawyer in the course of that relationship . . .” (Evid. Code, § 952 (italics added)). However, as previously stated, the particular circumstances of the case at bench do not warrant the conclusion that defendant was aware of the precise purpose of his interview with Mr. Porter. Accordingly I think that we should emphasize that our holding herein is limited to the specific facts of the case before us.
Clark, J., concurred.