People v. Leonard

In People v. Leonard, 224 Mich App 569, 580; 569 NW2d 663 (1997), the Court found persuasive the following reasoning: A defendant must demonstrate something more than a mere possibility of assistance from a requested expert; due process does not require the government automatically to provide indigent defendants with expert assistance upon demand. Rather, a fair reading of these precedents is that a defendant must show the trial court that there exists a reasonable probability both that an expert would be of assistance to the defense and that denial of expert assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial. At the start of trial, defendant requested to represent himself and stated that he needed an adjournment for a psychiatric evaluation in order to show that he was under duress when he gave a statement to the police. The trial court denied the request for adjournment. Defendant did not assert an insanity defense at trial, thus he was not entitled to an independent psychiatric evaluation by a clinician of his choice. See Leonard, supra at 582, citing MCL 768.20a(3); MSA 28.1043(1)(3).