Opinion ID: 2594735
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defense Funding Requests

Text: Section 987.9 allows an indigent defendant in a capital case to seek court funds for, among other things, the hiring of investigators. Under the statute, the fact that an application has been made and the contents of the application shall be confidential. ( Ibid.) As relevant here, the first of two defense requests sought investigative funds for an amount not to exceed $1,000. The second request sought reimbursement for $775.43, based on the defense investigator's efforts to contact certain witnesses whose names and addresses were listed in the funding request. Defendant argues that both requests violated section 987.9 because they were not filed as confidential applications. A violation of section 987.9 is not reversible per se, however. The defendant must show that he was deprived of a fair trial or otherwise suffered prejudice as a result of the violation. ( People v. Anderson (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1104, 1133-1134, 240 Cal.Rptr. 585, 742 P.2d 1306.) Here, defendant has not made such a showing.