Opinion ID: 1936097
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the circuit court erred in denying jackson's motion for a continuance

Text: Jackson asserts that the circuit court's refusal to grant his motion for a continuance made it impossible for him to obtain an adequate psychiatric evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist of his choice and to sufficiently prepare his defense. As his only meaningful authority, he cites Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), wherein the United States Supreme Court refused to acknowledge that an indigent defendant has a constitutional right to a psychologist or psychiatrist of his choosing or for funds to pay for such even where he has demonstrated that his sanity is at issue. Ake, 470 U.S. at 83, 105 S.Ct. at 1096, 84 L.Ed.2d at 66. Jackson's reliance on Ake avails him nothing and we find that he had more than adequate time in which to secure a thorough evaluation by his psychiatrist of choice, Dr. Timothy Summers. Whether a continuance should be granted or denied is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Johnson v. State, 631 So.2d 185, 189 (Miss. 1994); Wallace v. State, 607 So.2d 1184, 1190 (Miss. 1992); Morris v. State, 595 So.2d 840, 844 (Miss. 1991). Only when manifest injustice appears to have resulted from the decision to deny the continuance should this Court reverse on that basis. Johnson, 631 So.2d at 189; Hatcher v. Fleeman, 617 So.2d 634, 639 (Miss. 1993). To determine whether such manifest injustice has resulted from the circuit court's refusal to grant Jackson's motion for a continuance, we turn to the chronology of events surrounding his efforts to secure an evaluation by a psychiatrist of his choice. On April 10, 1991, the State filed a Motion for Mental Examination to determine whether Jackson was competent to stand trial as well as whether he was sane at the time of the crime. From the transcript of the April 12, 1991 motions hearing, it appears that Jackson, too, had filed such a motion. The record, however, contains no such motion. At the April 29, 1991 motion hearing, the circuit judge stated that he would enter an order naming the Court's psychiatrist and psychologist to examine Jackson for limited purposes. On June 10, 1991, the circuit court issued an order requesting that both parties submit requests for special tests and areas of exploration they sought from a court-appointed psychologist or psychiatrist. An order for examination by Dr. Robert McKinley, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Michael Whalen, a psychologist, was then entered on June 19, 1991. Nevertheless, Jackson's first apparent objection to Drs. McKinley and Whelan only arose in his Motion to Proceed Ex Parte, filed on August 21, 1991, five days before the original trial date. Jackson's attorney indicated at that time that he had wanted to retain the services of a Dr. Kallman, whom, he maintained, could assist in an advocacy role. At proceedings in chambers on August 26, 1991, the first day of the originally-scheduled trial in Leflore County, Jackson's attorney indicated that he had not been able to retain Dr. Kallman or any of the other psychiatrists or psychologists of his choice. Contrary to the wishes of his client, he asked for a continuance. Later in those proceedings, Walls indicated that he had not yet had an opportunity to develop an insanity defense. The State noted that despite its requests for a notice of insanity defense, none had been forthcoming. On September 10, 1991, before the transferred trial in Copiah County, Jackson's attorney again sought a continuance. The State, objecting, pointed out that it had been asking the defense about a notice of insanity defense since April 24. Walls then stated that he had filed a notice the Friday before trial, without knowing what the results of Dr. Summers' evaluation would be. The circuit court then overruled the motion for a continuance. Jackson's insanity defense was then withdrawn before the proffer of Dr. Summers' testimony in the guilt phase of the trial. In refusing to admit Dr. Summers' testimony at that time, the circuit court indicated that its decision was based on the content of his testimony, not because of the abandonment of the insanity defense. Given the five-month time frame in which Jackson's attorney could have filed a notice of insanity defense, voiced his objections to the evaluations by the court-appointed doctors or taken other measures to secure evaluations by psychiatrists or psychologists of his choice, and the fact that he found it necessary to withdraw the insanity defense after obtaining Dr. Summers' evaluation, we cannot say that manifest injustice resulted from the refusal to grant the continuance.