Coaching witnesses for their evidence is an area of law that has caught several lawyers out over the year. But the trial of Chicago lawyer Beau Brindley who is accused of coaching witnesses to lie in five criminal trials is one of the more significant cases of its kind.
The Chicago Tribune reports that police had raided Brindley’s office and seized four versions of scripted questions and answers for a client accused in a cocaine deal, the Tribune says. The client is expected to testify he agreed to pay Brindley $150,000 if he was acquitted.
Further evidence seized is a February 2013 email about a client’s upcoming testimony in which Brindley tells an associate that he has “bolded a few important questions and the answers I think he should give.”
Brindley is also accused of obstructing a grand jury investigation by pretending to represent a witness and asserting she would assert her Fifth Amendment rights. The witness was not called to give evidence.
Prosecutors also allege Brindley filed a false report claiming a client was too sick to participate in an attorney-client meeting. When video evidence showed the client appeared fine, Brindley said he had only glanced at the document and didn’t know it contained errors.
