(DOWNLOAD) "Commonwealth v. Palmer Woodberry" by Appeals Court of Massachusetts # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Commonwealth v. Palmer Woodberry
- Author : Appeals Court of Massachusetts
- Release Date : January 07, 1988
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 61 KB
Description
A criminal defendant who moved to withdraw his pleas of guilty on the ground that his attorney coerced the pleas and committed other misconduct, waived his attorney-client privilege with respect to his conversations with his plea attorney concerning the rationale for his decision to plead guilty; and the attorney's testimony at the hearing on the motion, relevant and material to defending against the allegations of misconduct, was not beyond the scope of the waiver. [638-640] The defendant pleaded guilty to so much of a first degree murder indictment as charged second degree murder, and to indictments charging armed burglary, armed robbery, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and unlawfully carrying a firearm. This appeal concerns the denial of the defendant's motion ""to withdraw guilty pleas or in the alternative . . . for new trial."" 1 The question presented is whether the testimony of the defendant's ""plea attorney"" at the motion hearing concerning private communications with the defendant was beyond the scope of the defendant's waiver of the attorney-client privilege. We conclude that the testimony given here by the plea attorney in defending against the challenge to his professional conduct was within the scope of the waiver of the attorney-client privilege.