Can you imagine being this defendant?

Can you imagine being this defendant?  He is charged with murder, the only evidence against him is a forensic ballistics match to a firearm he owned.  At trial, his attorney asked the court to allocate funds to secure an expert to counter this evidence.  The trial court allowed $1000.00 for an expert witness, believing that that amount was capped by statute. The judge was wrong, and defense counsel did not object.   The statute actual allowed for any amount that was reasonable and necessary. What kind of ballistics expert can one get for $1000? One that couldn’t use a microscope because he only had one eye!  The US Supremes find in a 9-0 per curiam opinion that failure to request reasonable funds to get a proper expert is ineffective assistance of counsel.  Hinton v. Alabama; 2014 DJ DAR 2171.  Make sure your expert is up to the task!

Be sure your co-habitants are on the same page!  In Georgia v. Randolph (2006, 547 US 103) the US Supremes held that if police want to search a residence, all tenants must give consent.  What are you to do if you are a police officer and you really want to get into a residence, but a pesky tenant will not give consent while his co-tenant is?  Remove the tenant, what else!  The US Supremes find this behavior allowable, provided that removing the objecting tenant is “objectively reasonable.”  Fernandez v. California; 2014 DJ DAR 2222.  Remember, make sure everyone in your house knows the plan, or you may find the police rooting through your fridge!