Privilege. Francia Collazos was in prison and kept a journal. Part of the journal involved conversation she had with her attorney. Part involved incidents with defendant Nicholas DeFonte. DeFonte found out about the existence of the journal and subpoenaed it. Collazos moved for a protective order on the ground that the journal was privileged. The district court denied the motion.

The Second Circuit held that those portions of the journal that described conversations with her attorney were privileged. The other sections were privileged if they set out material she intended to discuss with her counsel. The Court remanded the case for a hearing as to whether the journal fell within the scope of the privilege as it set out in its decision. The decision in United States v. DeFonte can be found at the Second Circuit website. It was decided on March 15, 2006.