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Shamrock, in response to your question:
If I were to interview one of these defendants, I would want to know every bad thing they ever did, from hitting a girlfriend to joining their US college's communist party group. I'd need to know all of these things, because even though they don't prove guilt, they will be used by the government to make the client look bad. I will need to prepare for such circumstances.
Now, if the government doesn't know about these things, I see no reason why I should be forced to give them all this info they could use to obfuscate the case and make an otherwise-innocent person look guilty.
Just an example of the sort of thing that makes it important to have attorney/client confidentiality. There are thousands of others.
Such as legal planning/strategy. How can I discuss the strategies that will and will not work, and honestly critique the likely chances of success -- with the other side having access to my plans and strategies and thoughts? There is a strict rule regarding confidentiality of attorney/client communications, and it's fundamental to the adversary system of justice.
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