Opinion ID: 1407422
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Haldol

Text: While Appellant was in jail awaiting trial, he was prescribed the anti-psychotic drug Haldol after he complained of hearing voices. Appellant's attorneys moved pre-trial that Appellant be taken off Haldol. The trial court granted the motion, relying on Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S. 127, 112 S.Ct. 1810, 118 L.Ed.2d 479 (1992). On June 25, 1993, during the penalty phase of the trial, Capt. Redden of the Florence County Detention Center testified that Appellant had taken Haldol as recently as 9:00 a.m. that morning. Appellant moved for a new trial, arguing that he had been administered Haldol against the order of the judge. The judge conducted an extensive hearing on the matter and issued an order denying Appellant's new trial motion. The judge found that (1) defense counsel had moved that Appellant be taken off Haldol; (2) Appellant himself had asked defense counsel why he was not being administered the drug; (3) defense counsel did nothing to communicate the judge's order to the jail personnel; (4) the jail personnel, unaware of the court's order, offered Haldol and other prescribed medication to Appellant as they had always done; and (5) Appellant took the medication voluntarily. We find substantial evidentiary support in the record for the judge's findings. Riggins, supra, involved a capital murder case in which Riggins moved the trial court to terminate the administration of anti-psychotic drugs so that the jury could view him in his normal, unmedicated state. The trial court summarily denied Riggins' motion. The United States Supreme Court held that the forced administration of anti-psychotic drugs to Riggins violated his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Riggins is inapplicable to this case, however, because there is no evidence that Appellant was ever forcibly medicated. On the contrary, he indicated to his attorneys that he desired to continue taking Haldol. Under these circumstances, Appellant's due process rights were not violated.