Opinion ID: 1298156
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Request for a Second Psychiatric Evaluation.

Text: On Tuggle's motion, the trial court ordered an evaluation of the defendant to determine his sanity at the time of the offense and his competency to stand trial. Code §§ 19.2-169.1 and -169.5. The Commonwealth neither concurred in nor opposed the motion. Pursuant to the order, Tuggle was admitted to Central State Hospital. Following his evaluation, the hospital reported that he was sane at the time of the offense and competent to stand trial. Fourteen days before his trial was to commence, Tuggle sought another psychiatric evaluation at his expense by a Charlottesville psychiatrist. The court denied the motion, observing that Tuggle previously had been evaluated at his own request, the trial date was close at hand, and if the motion were granted, Tuggle would have to be transported under guard from the Marion jail to Charlottesville in one day, leaving just a few hours for an evaluation. Tuggle argues on appeal that the court's denial of his motion precluded him from bringing to the attention of the jury the mitigating circumstances only ascertainable through a psychiatric examination by a neutral professional. Relying upon Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 103 S.Ct. 3383, 77 L.Ed.2d 1090 (1983), he contends that a second evaluation was necessary in an attempt to refute a psychiatric opinion that Tuggle presented future dangerousness. We note at the outset that this reason (i.e., refuting future dangerousness) was not advanced in either Tuggle's written motion or his oral argument on the motion in the trial court. See Rule 5:21. Aside from that, however, we find no merit to this contention. We believe the issue of whether the defendant should receive a second psychiatric evaluation under the circumstances of the present case was a matter resting within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we cannot say the court abused its discretion. Moreover, Tuggle's reliance upon Barefoot is misplaced. Unlike the facts in Barefoot, Tuggle, as we previously noted, requested and received the first psychiatric evaluation. Barefoot does not suggest that a defendant who has been examined at his own request has a constitutional right to further evaluations. Further, the suggestion that a second evaluation would have produced a different result is speculative at best.