Top lawyer Buchwald takes on Ashley’s case

Call-girl-cum-singer Ashley Alexandra Dupre has raised eyebrows in New York legal circles by getting herself one of the top criminal defence attorneys in New York, Don Buchwald, to represent her before the federal grand jury investigating the Spitzer case. And for free.

It turns out she applied for - and was granted - a court-appointed lawyer on Monday, before the world woke up to the scandal that brought down New York state governor Eliot Spitzer and made Ashley - known to Spitzer as 'Kristen' - the American media's most wanted woman. Court-appointed lawyers are normally awarded to the poor and underprivileged - not to one of the few people whose hourly wage ($1,000) is in the same ballpark as a lawyer's.

Buchwald (pictured), typically bullish, has already announced that Dupre will almost certainly be granted immunity from prosecution for any sex crimes when she appears before the grand jury with other prostitutes from the Emperors Club VIP service. "I have no reason to believe she is going to be charged," he said on Thursday.

Adding to the general impression that Spitzer was shafted by a powerful lobby that has loathed him ever since he was the state's all-powerful attorney general, it turns out Buchwald represented executives of financial institutions that were targeted by Spitzer. Asked about that on Thursday, Buchwald laughed and said, "I try to represent all my clients zealously."

Spitzer faces a potential slew of criminal charges, including violating the Mann Act - which prohibits sending women across state lines for 'immoral purposes' - and money laundering, after paying the pimps who ran the Emperors Club in a series of cash transfers.