Commonwealth v. Konias, 2016 PA Super 68
In Konias, Defense Counsel, who had been privately retained, filed multiple motions seeking Court funds to retain experts based on his client’s indigency. The Trial Court denied the Motions and the Superior Court affirmed. While the result itself is unremarkable, the path the Superior Court took to get there is important. The Court first noted that “merely retaining private counsel does not, in itself, establish” that a defendant is not entitled to Court payment of other defense costs. However, in this particular case, private Defense Counsel, in filing his requests for funds to hire experts, failed to provide enough financial information about his client to prove to the Trial Court that his client was indeed indigent.