Opinion ID: 1323067
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion for Private Investigator

Text: Before trial, Pope moved the court to appoint an investigator to comb the neighborhood for potential witnesses. The court denied the motion, noting that we have recently held that an indigent defendant has no constitutional right to the appointment, at public expense, of a private investigator. Gray v. Commonwealth, 233 Va. 313, 330, 356 S.E.2d 157, 166 (1987); Watkins v. Commonwealth, 229 Va. 469, 478, 331 S.E.2d 422, 430 (1985), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1099, 106 S.Ct. 1503, 89 L.Ed.2d 903 (1986); Quintana v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 127, 135, 295 S.E.2d 643, 646 (1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1029, 103 S.Ct. 1280, 75 L.Ed.2d 501 (1983). On appeal, Pope argues that the appointment of a private investigator is required by an analogy to the reasoning in Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 83-84, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 1097, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985). We do not agree. Ake applies only to the appointment of an independent psychiatrist to assist an indigent defendant who has made a preliminary showing that his sanity at the time of the offense is likely to be a significant factor in his defense, or where the prosecution intends to rely on psychiatric evidence to prove the defendant's future dangerousness. See Pruett v. Commonwealth, 232 Va. 266, 275 n. 3, 351 S.E.2d 1, 7 n. 3 (1986); Tuggle v. Commonwealth, 230 Va. 99, 104-108, 334 S.E.2d 838, 841-43 (1985), cert. denied, 478 U.S. ___, 106 S.Ct. 3309, 92 L.Ed.2d 722 (1986). Ake is inapplicable here. We adhere to our holding in Watkins.