A recent law review arti­cle argues that cap­i­tal defen­dants’ right to expert assis­tance would grow stronger through the revi­tal­iza­tion of the 1983 Supreme Court deci­sion in Ake v. Oklahoma. The author explains that recent court deci­sions and the revised American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Council in Death Penalty Cases ​“offer the hope that the the­o­ret­i­cal enti­tle­ment of Ake will be ful­ly real­ized.” As a result, the arti­cle argues that one of two out­comes will result at the state lev­el; ​“1) cap­i­tal defen­dants will receive a ful­ly-lit­i­gat­ed, fair tri­al con­sis­tent with the prin­ci­ples set for the by the Supreme Court and the ABA and/​or 2) some states will be unable to bear the finan­cial bur­den of a ful­ly-imple­ment­ed Ake, and they will either reduce the num­ber of cap­i­tal cas­es pur­sued or they will cease pur­suit of the death penal­ty all togeth­er.” The arti­cle exam­ines the Ake promis­es in the­o­ry and why it has his­tor­i­cal­ly been under-uti­lized, offers evi­dence that Ake is in the process of being revi­tal­ized, and then dis­cuss­es the ​“impact that this trend will like­ly have on all cap­i­tal cas­es.”
(C. Drinan, ​“The Revitalization of Ake: A Capital Defendant’s Right to Expert Assistance,” 60 Oklahoma Law Review, Summer 2007, 2). See Law Reviews.

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