Opinion ID: 162812
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Appeal and post-conviction challenges

Text: 20 Ellis's direct appeal was denied. Ellis v. State, 867 P.2d 1289 (Okla.Crim.App.1992). The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) rejected Ellis's argument that the Garcia report should have been admitted at the guilt phase, reasoning as follows: 21 Nothing in the Eastern State Hospital records was directed to the question of sanity, which is whether appellant was capable of knowing the wrongfulness of his acts when he committed them. See 21 O.S.1981, § 152(4). Rather, the examination was directed solely to the question of competency, i.e. whether appellant had the ability at the time of trial to understand the nature of the charges and proceedings brought against him, and was able to effectively and rationally assist in his defense. See 22 O.S.1981, § 1175.1. Appellant sought to introduce the records merely because they were authentic. Any probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of misleading the jury and confusing the issues of competency and sanity, 12 O.S. 1981, § 2403, and we find that the trial court ruled properly. 22 Id. at 1296-97. Ellis's subsequent petition for post-conviction relief was denied. Ellis v. State, 941 P.2d 527 (Okla.Crim.App. 1997). 23 Ellis then filed the present habeas petition in federal district court, in which he again challenged, inter alia, the exclusion of the Garcia report. The district court rejected all of Ellis's claims. Addressing Ellis's Chambers claim regarding the exclusion of the Garcia report, the court adopted the OCCA's reasoning in its entirety. It acknowledged in a footnote that the trial court directed the doctors to assess competency at the time the acts were committed, but stated that [i]t is nevertheless clear that Dr. Garcia's report and the accompanying staff notes are addressed to the issue of competency to stand trial, and not to the insanity defense. 24 We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2253. Because Ellis filed his habeas petition on December 19, 1997, after the effective date of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), AEDPA applies.