Judge Says Fugitive's Lawyer Must Testify

While Jesse James Hollywood and his friends were allegedly holding a 15-year-old boy hostage for payment of what police contend was a drug debt, he called his lawyer to ask for advice.

But when Simi Valley attorney Stephen Hogg picked up the phone, prosecutors allege, the conversation that followed set the stage for murder. Hollywood decided to kill the boy--abducted from near his West Hills home last summer--after Hogg advised him that the penalty for kidnapping is life in prison, prosecutors contend.

Now, in another wrinkle in a case defined by odd twists stretching from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, a judge ruled last week that Hogg can be compelled to testify in future criminal proceedings against his onetime client, a 21-year-old fugitive wanted by the FBI on kidnapping and murder charges.

In making his ruling, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge William L. Gordon opened the door for prosecutors to seek Hogg's testimony about Hollywood in the trials of four other defendants charged with kidnapping and murdering Nicholas Markowitz in August.

The case has stirred interest in legal circles because it deals with forcing lawyers to testify against clients, and because it dramatically highlights the professional dilemmas lawyers can face simply by answering the phone.

"It's an attorney's worst nightmare," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School. "It's a situation where the ethical rules of lawyers butt up against what a lot of people think our moral duties should be. If [Hogg] ran to the police, he could have been subject to discipline by the State Bar. The professional rules say, 'Don't reveal it,' but your own heart may say, 'I have to.' "

In this case, Santa Barbara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Zonen told the judge, Hollywood sought legal advice midway through a crime, in the midst of the kidnapping. Zonen successfully argued that the attorney-client privilege does not apply because Hollywood waived it by later telling a friend about the conversation he'd had with Hogg.

In the court hearing last week, Hogg strenuously opposed the prosecutor's efforts, and he could still appeal.

"It's a very uncomfortable position for me," said Hogg, a veteran defense attorney. "The attorney-client privilege is very important. You can't imagine the number of times people come to me and tell me their secrets."