Ethics

It's a classic legal ethics scenario: someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime, and the lawyer for the real culprit has to decide whether to disclose the client's confidential confession.  Most states' ethics rules do not permit such a disclosure, but there are a couple of notable exceptions (Massachusetts and Alaska).

The scenario is not just a great one for class discussion.  It has come up on in real cases several times in the last couple of years (see here, here, and here), and it has now arisen again in Rhode Island.