Opinion ID: 1829968
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Independent, State-Funded Investigator

Text: Relying on Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), Hansen contends he was denied the equal protection of the laws, due process of law, and effective assistance of counsel by the Circuit Court's denial of his requests for appointment of and/or funds with which to employ an independent investigator. The criminally accused have made such motions for some time now, and we initially responded with measured skepticism. See, e.g., Davis v. State, 374 So.2d 1293, 1297 (Miss. 1979); and Bright v. State, 293 So.2d 818, 822 (Miss. 1974). We recognized that there may be instances, when in fairness, the state should be required to provide and pay for non-legal personnel needed by the defense, and we committed to the circuit court the discretionary authority to identify such cases and make such orders as may be appropriate. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 453-54 (Miss. 1984); Ruffin v. State, 447 So.2d 113, 118 (Miss. 1984); Bullock v. State, 391 So.2d 601, 607 (Miss. 1980). The Supreme Court broadened these premises with Ake in 1985. Still, in the same term, the Court reiterated that the Constitution does not require the state to furnish an investigator absent a showing of substantial need. Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985); see also, Johnson v. State, 529 So.2d 577, 589 (Miss. 1988). The accused is required to offer concrete reasons for requiring such assistance, not undeveloped assertions that the requested assistance would be beneficial... . Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 323 n. 1, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 2637 n. 1, 86 L.Ed.2d 231, 236 n. 1 (1985). No such need was shown in Pinkney v. State, 538 So.2d 329, 343 (Miss. 1988), vacated on other grounds, 494 U.S. 1075, 110 S.Ct. 1800, 108 L.Ed.2d 931 (1990), and we affirmed. Griffin v. State, 557 So.2d 542, 550-51 (Miss. 1990), is to like effect. The Court below asked that Hansen provide the name and the proposed cost of the investigator, and a specification of purposes for which the investigator was needed. The Court allowed Hansen until the following Tuesday to gather the information. Hansen suggested a man named Ralph Paz, who would charge $15.00 per hour plus expenses, but he never came forward with the remaining predicate facts and circumstances and never again raised the issue, until this appeal. The Court below noted that Hansen had heard most of the witnesses testify, preliminarily though rather fully, knew the substance of what each witness knew, and that they were, for the most part, local people. The prosecution had provided Hansen with the statements given by the witnesses, and Hansen's lawyer had been able to cross-examine them during the pre-trial hearings. There were a few witnesses located in Florida that had not been presented at the pre-trial hearing, and the Court stated it did not see why they could not be contacted via telephone and interviewed. In this light, we cannot say the Circuit Court abused its discretion in denying Hansen funds for an independent investigator.