Opinion ID: 2972570
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: competence at trial

Text: A defendant’s competence is a question of fact, which we review for clear error. See Thompson v. Keohane, 516 U.S. 99, 111 (1995). A defendant is mentally incompetent to stand trial if he lacks a “sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding” and “a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.” Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (1960) (per curiam). The state trial court did not hold a full hearing on Harries’s competency, so the district court did not defer to any prior determination of competency. The district court found that “at the time of the trial Petitioner was suffering from Bipolar Disorder and Anxiety Disorder, impairments which may have been exacerbated by a preexisting organic brain damage, his drug use, his unstable childhood, and the pre-trial conditions of confinement in Sullivan County.” (Slip op. at 71.) The district court nevertheless found Harries competent, accepting explanations for his seemingly bizarre behavior that made such behavior appear rational. Harries alleges that his behavior at and around the time of trial was so bizarre that it shows his incompetence to stand trial. His behavior included: (1) demanding that Tennessee seek the death penalty before waiving extradition from Florida; (2) talking with the press; (3) testifying at his co-defendant’s trial and threatening the prosecutor at that trial; (4) refusing to seek a change of venue; (5) behaving irrationally in jail by staging hunger strikes, throwing food, fighting, attempting to defraud guards, and cursing at guards. The district court explained why Harries’s conduct failed to prove his incompetence during trial: (1) Harries demanded that Tennessee seek the death penalty only at the time of extradition; (2) Harries talked with the press to create a favorable impression of himself in the community and to ensure his safety in prison by having the press visit him there; (3) Harries testified at his codefendant’s trial out of “convict loyalty”; (4) Harries rejected a change of venue because he did not want to be in a smaller community where the jurors would likely be more conservative, and he would not have access to the press; and (5) Harries believed he could manipulate the situation to his advantage through his jailhouse behavior. Further, a review of the trial transcript indicates that Harries behaved appropriately throughout the trial, except for saying “damn” once outside the jury’s hearing. The district court’s determination coincides with the conclusions of both doctors who examined Harries before trial and Harries’s trial counsel himself. Before trial, court-appointed doctors twice evaluated Harries to be competent to stand trial. Harries’s trial counsel bolstered the competency evidence with his personal confirmation of his ability to communicate with Harries. The contrary opinions offered by Harries’s experts at the evidentiary hearing lack the same relevance—both of those evaluations occurred well after trial.1 Dr. Lewis first evaluated Harries in 1984, three years after trial. Dr. Woods submitted his report in October 2000, nineteen years posttrial. See Wright v. Sec’y for the Dep’t of Corr., 278 F.3d 1245, 1259 (11th Cir. 2002) (noting that “incompetency to stand trial seven and eight months later [than trial] . . . is relevant, but it is not enough to counter the best evidence of what his mental condition was at the only time that counts, which is the time of trial”). Also diminishing the relevance of Doctors Lewis’s and Woods’s opinions is their perspective—each had the benefit of hindsight when evaluating Harries’s allegedly irrational behavior. As the district court noted: “Petitioner’s experts (in particular Dr. Lewis) tend to look back at decisions that turned out badly for Harries and label them as irrational based on their ultimate outcome.” (Slip op. at 74.) When measured against the pretrial assessments, the opinions 1 The state also presented two experts who evaluated Harries and reviewed his past medical history. They concluded that Harries was competent to stand trial. Nos. 02-6286/6334 Harries v. Bell Page 4 of Harries’s experts fail to counter the evidence in the record that suggests Harries had a “sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney” at the time of trial. See Dusky, 362 U.S. at 402.