"When we think through just how challenging it is for the judge to untangle how the compelled testimony might be shaping prosecutors' strategy, it suggests what kind of can of worms this opens up," he said.
That first delivery Shakim's was unexpected and unmedicated, the first inkling anyone in her family had she might be pregnant, prosecutors say.
One possible middle-ground solution might be for prosecutors to bring initial charges based only on probable cause, but to encourage a more stringent standard to bring a case to trial.
But to Ms. Bennett, Mr. Branch took the risk that he might be charged by prosecutors.
At issue is whether they can safely advise clients to do things that, while legal in themselves, might be considered by prosecutors or courts to have questionable motives.
New Jersey's attorney general, Peter C. Harvey, said on Monday that it might be months before prosecutors determine whether to pursue a capital murder case.
A person involved in Ms. Stewart's defense said the ruling "renders the securities fraud charge dead on arrival," although other material might be introduced by prosecutors themselves.
But he says he never opened up to his therapist, fearing that actions taken in the heat of battle might be disclosed to prosecutors.
The failure to charge Gupta is a much discussed mystery, but the answer might be simple: the prosecutors, consumed with other cases and with preparation for the Rajaratnam trial, might not have realized what they had on Gupta until shortly before the proceedings began.
That remark has fueled the uncertainty about what obstruction charges prosecutors might be able to pursue, whether state or federal prosecutors might pursue them, or whether any prosecutors have the stomach to continue to fight that aspect of the case.
