United States v. Kreutzer

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s expansion of Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), by finding in the U.S. Constitution a right of an accused to a death penalty mitigation specialist on the defense team, without the accused first demonstrating the need for such an expert. In granting this right of “constitutional magnitude,” 61 M.J. at 298, the majority places this Court outside of the judicial mainstream. The majority fails to consider the opinions of federal and state courts regarding the right to a capital mitigation specialist, the expertise and…