Opinion ID: 746484
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Limiting Funding for Defense Experts.

Text: 52 Lefkowitz asserts that he was denied due process when a judge of this court limited him to $169,000 in accountant expert fees under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(e). 5 Due process requires that the government provide the basic tools of an adequate defense. Little v. Armontrout, 835 F.2d 1240, 1243 (8th Cir.1987) (en banc) (quotation omitted), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1210, 108 S.Ct. 2857, 101 L.Ed.2d 894 (1988). As we discuss in Part IV, there is good reason to infer that Lefkowitz was not a financially unable defendant entitled to any CJA funding. But in any event, we are satisfied that the funds he received gave him the basic accounting tools for an adequate defense. He retained the services of a nationally recognized accounting expert who testified extensively at trial. We find nothing in the record suggesting that this limitation on CJA fees resulted in an unfair trial. 53