Stopher v. Conliffe

Opinion of the Court by

Justice KELLER.

I. ISSUE

Petitioner filed an RCr 11.42 motion and requested an ex parte hearing under KRS 31.185 at which he would seek funds for an expert to support his motion. The trial court denied Petitioner’s request, and he now petitions this Court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to conduct an ex parte hearing on his request for such funds. Because we find that the statutory entitlement to funds for an expert does not extend to post-conviction proceedings, we deny the petition for a writ of mandamus.

II. BACKGROUND

Petitioner was convicted of…