People v. Radtke

*22OPINION OF THE COURT

David Goldstein, J.

The issue, one of first impression, is whether and under what circumstances, the attorney-client privilege (CPLR 4503) should yield to a criminal defendant’s constitutional right of confrontation under the Sixth Amendment, where the witness faces possible self-incrimination by such cross-examination.

The defendant stands indicted, inter alla, for the murder of his six-day-old son, Anthony Radtke. According to proof adduced at a pretrial hearing and before the Grand Jury, on August 10, 1990, defendant and his "common-law wife,” Linda Boyce, summoned the…