We will hear argument first this morning in case 24557, Via Real v. Texas.

Mr. Banner.

Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the Court, during an overnight recess, the defendant and his counsel have a lot that they need to talk about.

They need to go over the testimony that took place that day.

They need to prepare for the testimony that's going to be given the next day. These are basic discussions that any

competent lawyer would have with the client. This is the assistance of counsel that the

Sixth Amendment guarantees. But the defendant and counsel can't have these conversations if they're not allowed to discuss

the defendant's testimony.

For example, if the defendant's testimony has gone poorly, counsel may need to advise the

defendant to accept a plea agreement.

But counsel can't do that without discussing the defendant's testimony.

The defendant needs advice about how to testify without violating the trial court's evidentiary rulings.

The counsel can't give this necessary advice without discussing the defendant's testimony.

Counsel has an obligation to prevent the defendant from committing perjury, but that'd be

impossible without discussing the defendant's testimony.

Our brief has many more examples, but the point is that the defendant and counsel often

must discuss the defendant's testimony during an overnight recess.

Now, the Court below tried to distinguish between discussions of trial strategy, which

allowed, and discussions of testimony, which is prohibited, but that's

no line at all.

It's often impossible to discuss trial strategy without discussing testimony.

And responsible defense lawyers worried about being held in contempt for crossing this

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