The Arizona Supreme Court, citing its own 2020 ruling in Clements v. Bernini ex. rel. County of Pima, has remanded a case to the trial court to determine if a criminal defendant can assert attorney-client privilege on a broad scale when some communications may have been inadvertently disclosed.
The Supreme Court released its opinion Wednesday in State v. Beasley, which examines the application of attorney-client privilege when communications are purportedly disclosed inadvertently. The court considered whether a defendant in a criminal case who asserts attorney-client privilege must make a prima facie showing that each communication is privileged or if the court can rely on “a blanket application of the privilege,” Justice John R. Lopez IV wrote on behalf of the court.
