Is there a lawyer in the house?

Michael Froomkin froomkin at law.miami.edu
Thu Dec 7 17:48:04 PST 1995


If Alice gives Bob her key and Bob is not a person with whom Alice has a 
special relationship of trust (e.g. her lawyer), then Alice has no legal 
grounds to complain if Bob *voluntarily* gives Carol, a Cop, Alice's 
key.

If Alice gives Bob her key and Bob is not a person with whom Alice has a 
special relationship of trust (e.g. her lawyer), then Alice has no legal 
grounds to complain if Carol, a Cop, serves Bob with a valid warrant to 
seize Alice's key and in fact does so.  

Furthermore, there are circumstances in some states where even if there 
is a special relationship of trust Bob either may at his discretion or in 
some rarer cases may be forced to divulge the key.  E.g. to prevent a 
crime that is about to be committed likely to involve loss of life.

A. Michael Froomkin        | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)
Associate Professor of Law | 
U. Miami School of Law     | froomkin at law.miami.edu
P.O. Box 248087            | http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin
Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's warm here.







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