a public defender

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In a bit of a surprise, attorney Philip Russell pled guilty earlier today. Not to the original charge of obstruction of justice, but to a subbed down charge of “misprision of felony”. What it basically means is that he knew of a felony and didn’t report it.

While the bigger issue of whether what he did should be a crime goes unresolved and is left for another attorney on another day, this plea itself raises some questions. Attorneys are under no ethical duty to report a crime unless they believe there is a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury. In this case, the crime was possession of child pornography. No such risk there.

So what does this mean, then? Does this still mean that if attorneys do not report any sort of crime, they can be prosecuted? Does this make mandatory reporters of us all?

I’m not sure that anyone should breathe a sigh of relief - except, perhaps, Attorney Russell himself.

Most recent coverage here and here and all previous coverage here and the Cool Justice Report has a collection of links here.

Image license details here.