Opinion ID: 2317113
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Heading: The Scope of Ake

Text: In the wake of Ake, several questions arise. See generally Paul C. Giannelli, Ake v. Oklahoma: The Right to Expert Assistance in a Post-Daubert, Post-DNA World, 89 Cornell L.Rev. 1305 (2004). These questions include whether Ake extends beyond the capital context, whether the right to expert assistance extends beyond the insanity context and to non-psychiatric experts, the nature of the assistance to which a defendant is entitled, and the threshold showing a defendant must make to trigger the right.
Based on language in the concurring opinion of Chief Justice Burger in Ake, some courts have limited the application of Ake to capital cases. See, e.g., Isom v. State, 488 So.2d 12, 13 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986); Bannister v. State, 726 S.W.2d 821, 828-30 (Mo.App.1987). Chief Justice Burger stated as follows: The facts of the case and the question presented confine the actual holding of the Court. In capital cases the finality of the sentence imposed warrants protections that may or may not be required in other cases. Nothing in the Court's opinion reaches non-capital cases. Ake at 87, 105 S.Ct. at 1098 (Burger, C.J., concurring). The majority of courts that have considered this question have concluded that Ake applies to non-capital cases. See Cowley v. Stricklin, 929 F.2d 640, 640 (11th Cir. 1991); Little v. Armontrout, 835 F.2d 1240, 1243 (8th Cir.1987); Palmer v. State, 486 N.E.2d 477, 481-82 (Ind.1985); State v. Coker, 412 N.W.2d 589, 592-93 (Iowa 1987); State v. Dunn, 243 Kan. 414, 758 P.2d 718, 724-25 (1988); Pertgen v. State, 105 Nev. 282, 774 P.2d 429, 430-31 (1989); State v. Campbell, 127 N.H. 112, 498 A.2d 330, 332-33 (1985); People v. Stone, 195 Mich.App. 600, 491 N.W.2d 628, 631-32 (1992); State v. Barnett, 909 S.W.2d 423, 427 (Tenn.1995); Taylor v. State, 939 S.W.2d 148, 152 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The Tennessee Supreme Court reasoned as follows: We agree with the jurisdictions that have applied the Ake principle in the non-capital context because the due process principle of fundamental fairness requires that a State which prosecutes an indigent defendant assure that defendant of a fair opportunity to present his defense. It is axiomatic that fairness cannot exist where an indigent defendant is deprived by poverty of a meaningful opportunity to defend when his liberty is at stake. The due process principle of fundamental fairness applies to all criminal prosecutions, and does not rest upon the severity of the sanction sought or imposed. Barnett, 909 S.W.2d at 428. We agree, and conclude that Ake extends beyond the capital context and applies to non-capital cases.
The next question that arises is whether Ake is restricted to cases in which the defendant's sanity is at issue. The majority of courts have concluded that Ake extends beyond psychiatric experts. See, e.g., Terry v. Rees, 985 F.2d 283, 284 (6th Cir.1993) (pathologist); Dunn v. Roberts, 963 F.2d 308, 313 (10th Cir.1992) (battered-spouse syndrome expert); Scott v. Louisiana, 934 F.2d 631, 633 (5th Cir. 1991) (ballistics expert); Little v. Armontrout, 835 F.2d 1240, 1243 (8th Cir.1987) (hypnotism expert); Ex parte Moody, 684 So.2d 114, 118-19 (Ala.1996) (applicable to non-psychiatric experts generally); Ex parte Dubose, 662 So.2d 1189, 1194 (Ala. 1995) (DNA expert); Ex parte Sanders, 612 So.2d 1199, 1201-02 (Ala.1993) (ballistics expert); Prater v. State, 307 Ark. 180, 820 S.W.2d 429, 439 (1991) (DNA expert); Doe v. Superior Court, 39 Cal.App.4th 538, 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 888, 892-93 (1995) (experts on battered spouse and post-traumatic stress syndromes); Cade v. State, 658 So.2d 550, 555 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1995) (DNA expert); Bright v. State, 265 Ga. 265, 455 S.E.2d 37, 50 (1995) (toxicologist); Crawford v. State, 257 Ga. 681, 362 S.E.2d 201, 206 (1987) (serologist, psychologist, survey expert); Thornton v. State, 255 Ga. 434, 339 S.E.2d 240, 240-41 (1986) (forensic dentist); People v. Lawson, 163 Ill.2d 187, 206 Ill.Dec. 119, 644 N.E.2d 1172, 1192 (1994) (fingerprint and shoe print experts); James v. State, 613 N.E.2d 15, 21 (Ind.1993) (blood spatter expert); State v. Coker, 412 N.W.2d 589, 593 (Iowa 1987) (expert to assist with intoxication defense); State v. Carmouche, 527 So.2d 307, 307 (La.1988) (fingerprint expert, serologist); Polk v. State, 612 So.2d 381, 393 (Miss. 1992) (DNA expert); State v. Huchting, 927 S.W.2d 411, 419 (Mo.Ct.App.1996) (DNA expert); People v. Tyson, 209 A.D.2d 354, 618 N.Y.S.2d 796-97 (N.Y.App. Div.1994) (voiceprint expert); State v. Bridges, 325 N.C. 529, 385 S.E.2d 337, 339 (1989) (fingerprint expert); State v. Moore, 321 N.C. 327, 364 S.E.2d 648, 656-58 (1988) (pathologist, non-psychiatrist physician, fingerprint expert); State v. Mason, 82 Ohio St.3d 144, 694 N.E.2d 932, 944-45 (1998) (non-psychiatric experts generally); Rogers v. State, 890 P.2d 959, 966 (Okla. Crim.App.1995) (any expert necessary for adequate defense); State v. Rogers, 313 Or. 356, 836 P.2d 1308, 1315 (1992) (opinion polling expert); State v. Edwards, 868 S.W.2d 682, 697 (Tenn.Crim.App.1993) (DNA expert); Taylor v. State, 939 S.W.2d 148, 153 (Tex.Crim.App.1996) (DNA expert); Rey v. State, 897 S.W.2d 333, 338-39 (Tex.Crim.App.1995) (forensic pathologist). The United States Supreme Court has not addressed this issue; in Caldwell v. Mississippi, 472 U.S. 320, 105 S.Ct. 2633, 86 L.Ed.2d 231 (1985), the Court did not rule explicitly on whether the state had an obligation to appoint other than a psychiatric expert for an indigent defendant. The Court denied the defendant's request for the appointment of a criminal investigator on the grounds that the defendant made no showing as to the reasonableness of his request and had only generally asserted a need. Id. at 323 n. 1, 105 S.Ct. at 2637 n. 1. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit addressed the question and concluded that there is no principled way to distinguish between psychiatric and non-psychiatric experts. Little v. Armontrout, 835 F.2d 1240, 1243 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1210, 108 S.Ct. 2857, 101 L.Ed.2d 894 (1988). The court focused the issue as follows: The question in each case must be not what field of science or expert knowledge is involved, but rather how important the scientific issue is in the case, and how much help a defense expert could have given.    Letrice Little demonstrated that an expert in hypnosis would have substantially aided his defense, and that the denial of such expert would and did have a material impact on his trial. Id. at 1243-44. In balancing the interests of the parties, the Supreme Court reasoned that the defendant's interest is in the accuracy of [the] criminal proceeding, and that the host of safeguards fashioned ... over the years to diminish the risk of erroneous conviction stands as a testament to that concern. Ake at 78, 105 S.Ct. at 1093. Wrongful convictions are not limited to cases involving psychiatric issues. Where the defendant's mental state excuses an otherwise criminal act, a psychiatrist often will be the relevant expert. But where the defendant's guilt turns on the interpretation of physical evidence within the competence of some other profession or learned field, an expert in that area may be no less indispensable. Accordingly, we join the vast majority of those jurisdictions having considered this issue and hold that the right announced in Ake is not limited to providing psychiatric experts. The principles enunciated in Ake apply in cases of non-psychiatric expert assistance when an indigent defendant makes the requisite showing that the requested assistance is needed for him or her to have a fair opportunity to present his defense. Ake, 470 U.S. at 76, 105 S.Ct. at 1092.