Supreme Court of North Carolina August 22, 2003, 303PA02 (In Re the Investigation of the Death of Miller)

LAKE, Chief Justice.

This case involves the attorney-client privilege and raises the primary question of whether, in the context of a pretrial criminal investigation, there can be a viable basis for the application of an interest

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of justice balancing test or an exception to the privilege which would allow a trial court to compel disclosure of confidential communications where the client is