United States v. Deborah Ahmad Bey, 772 F.3d 1099

Deborah Ahmad Bey was sentenced to 24 months in prison in 2008 and ordered to self-surrender; the district judge twice changed the surrender date.
Bey’s attorney, Kent Anderson, mailed her a letter enclosing the court order setting a December 8, 2008 surrender date.
Bey failed to surrender, eluded arrest for about a year, was arrested, and charged under 18 U.S.C. § 3146(a)(2) for knowingly failing to surrender.
Bey moved to suppress the letter and related testimony, arguing the communication was protected by the attorney‑client privilege and thus inadmissible on the element of “knowledge.”
The district courts (Judge Shadur and later Judge Coleman) ruled the transmission of a court’s surrender date by counsel is not privileged; limited portions of the letter and Anderson’s testimony were admitted.
The bench trial resulted in conviction and a 26‑month sentence (time already served led to immediate release); Bey appealed, contesting the privilege ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a lawyer’s communication of a court‑ordered surrender date to a client is protected by the attorney‑client privilege	The letter and testimony were privileged communications conveying legal advice; suppress them because they were used to prove Bey’s knowledge of the surrender date	The letter merely conveyed public court information (the order) and was not confidential legal advice; thus not privileged	Communication of a court’s surrender date is not protected by the attorney‑client privilege; admission was proper
Whether the specific wording (“now supposed to report”) rendered the letter privileged legal advice	The wording interpreted the order and constituted legal advice about the order’s meaning, so it is privileged	The phrasing simply restated the court’s directive and did not add confidential legal analysis	The phrasing did not transform the transmission into privileged legal advice

United States v. Gray, 876 F.2d 1411 (9th Cir. 1989) (lawyer’s notification of sentencing date is not privileged)
United States v. Innella, 821 F.2d 1566 (11th Cir. 1987) (notification of surrender date not protected by privilege)
United States v. Bourassa, 411 F.2d 69 (10th Cir. 1969) (same)
United States v. Hall, 346 F.2d 875 (2d Cir. 1965) (same)
United States v. Leonard-Allen, 739 F.3d 948 (7th Cir. 2013) (definition and scope of attorney‑client privilege reviewed)
Antoine v. Atlas Turner, Inc., 66 F.3d 105 (6th Cir. 1995) (applying same rule to lawyer’s communications about court dates in civil context)