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Court of Appeals Holds that Defendant is not Entitled to County Paid Experts at Sentencing Hearing

By Walin & Klarich

In People vs. Stuckey, decided by the 3rd District Court of Appeals on July 9, 2009 the court held that a defendant who is facing sentencing does not have the right to court appointed experts. The court held that the right to court appointed experts exists only up to the time of jury trial. Once a defendant has been found guilty, then the court held there has no further right to use County funds to obtain experts at the time of sentencing or any other subsequent proceeding. What this means is that if you need an expert witness to assist you, the court will not pay for it. You will need to find a way to retain experts on your own. When you are facing a serious criminal charge, it is important that you seek the legal assistance of a highly experienced California criminal defense law firm...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on July 23, 2009 (boomark / email).