RB Murder Case Attorney's Contempt Appeal Denied

An appeals court on Tuesday denied a defense attorney's request to stop a San Diego Superior Court judge from holding her in contempt for refusing to answer questions about a financial portfolio in the case of a former caretaker accused of killing an 89-year-old Rancho Bernardo man and draining his bank accounts.

Deputy Public Defender Terry Zimmerman, the former attorney for Denise Goodwin, refused to answer questions about why, when and how she came into possession of the financial portfolio, citing attorney-client privilege, prompting Judge Charles Rogers to hold her in contempt and order her to jail.

Zimmerman appealed, and Tuesday a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal denied her request, ruling that she failed to prove that the information in the financial portfolio was protected by attorney-client privilege.

The matter was sent back to the lower court, where Zimmerman will likely be given another chance to answer questions from prosecutors on how she got the portfolio.

Goodwin's trial is set for January.

-City News Service