United States v. Lopez (1993) Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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United States v. Lopez | 4 F.3d 1455 (1993)

May an attorney ever communicate with someone who is represented by another attorney? We explore that question in United States versus Lopez.

Jose Lopez was indicted for several drug-related offenses. Lopez hired attorney Barry Tarlow to represent him. Tarlow told Lopez that he generally refused to negotiate plea deals that involved cooperation with the government. Lopez’s codefendant Antonio Escobedo was housed in the same prison as Lopez while the two were awaiting trial. Attorney James Twitty represented Escobedo. Lopez told Twitty that he was interested in exploring a plea deal. However, Lopez didn’t want Tarlow to find out because Lopez was afraid that Tarlow would stop representing him.

Twitty told prosecuting attorney John Lyons that Lopez was interested in a deal. Lyons was concerned about meeting with Lopez without his attorney present. Accordingly, Lyons contacted the district court, which in turn referred the matter to a magistrate. The magistrate warned Lopez about the dangers of proceeding, but Lopez insisted that he wanted to meet with Lyons alone. The magistrate allowed Lopez to meet with Lyons. The magistrate mistakenly believed that Lopez wanted to exclude Tarlow from the meeting because Lopez’s drug associates were paying Tarlow’s fees.

Lopez and Lyons met but couldn’t reach an agreement. Tarlow withdrew as Lopez’s counsel when he learned about the meetings. Lopez then hired new counsel and moved to dismiss the indictment. The district court found that Lyons had violated the applicable rules of professional conduct and that Lyons’s conduct prejudiced Lopez by depriving him of his counsel choice. Accordingly, the district court dismissed the indictment. The government appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

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