People v. West

It would seem self-evident that unless defendant was represented by an attorney at the time, the police could not have been guilty of interfering with an attorney-client relationship by questioning him. The majority holds, however, that an attorney-client relationship, once established, is indelible and will be presumed to continue indefinitely. Unless the police prove that they knew the relationship had ended, any interrogation by them "unduly derogates the cherished right to counsel” (majority opn, at 380).

But a right must exist before it can be protected, cherished or, for that matter,…