Andrews v. State

An indigent defendant who is represented by private counsel pro bono is entitled to file motions pertaining to the appointment and costs of experts, mitigation specialists, and investigators ex parte and under seal, with service to the Justice Administrative Commission and notice to the State’s attorney’s office, and to have hearing on such motions ex parte, with only the defendant and the Commission present.Defendant was convicted of offenses, including first-degree murder, that she committed when she was seventeen years old. After the United States Supreme Court decided Miller v. Alabama, 467 U.S. 460 (2012), the Supreme Court remanded Defendant’s case for resentencing. Prior to the resentencing hearing, Defendant’s pro bono counsel filed a motion for an ex parte hearing regarding the appointment of experts for the Miller juvenile resentencing hearing. The trial court denied the motion. The First District Court of Appeal denied Defendant’s petition for writ of certiorari but also certified a question to the Supreme Court. The Court answered as set forth above, quashed the First District’s decision, and remanded Defendant’s case for resentencing. View "Andrews v. State" on Justia Law