County Paid Nearly $600,000 for Expert Witnesses at Trial

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Expert witnesses cost a northern Idaho county nearly $600,000 during the trial of the man convicted of killing a Coeur d'Alene police officer. Coeur d'Alene Press reports Kootenai County officials say there are more invoices that still need to be tallied from the trial of Jonathan D. Renfro, so the cost could rise by thousands of dollars. Renfro was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this month for killing police Sgt. Greg Moore two years ago. Court records show that public defenders spent about $311,000 to pay seven experts to research and testify while prosecutors paid nearly $270,000 for three experts. The county pays for the defense expert witnesses, but it will be reimbursed by the Capital Crimes Defense Fund for this case.