Lighteard v. State

I respectfully dissent to the Court’s decision to refuse the State’s discretionary review petition. The Court of Appeals decided the government violated appellant’s Fourteenth Amendment federal constitutional “due process” rights under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Ake v. Oklahoma1 as interpreted by this Court in De Freece v. State.2

The Court of Appeals decided the government did this when the trial court denied appellant’s last minute trial-date request for a continuance and for appointment of another “defense” psychiatrist to assist appellant in the preparation of an…