Opinion ID: 1180973
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the constitutional rights to due process and to counsel

Text: The question of the legal effect of a defendant's amnesia has not previously been addressed by this court. In 1961, when a seminal law review article on legal issues related to amnesia appeared, Note, Amnesia: A Case Study in the Limits of Particular Justice, 71 Yale L.J. 109 (1961), little had been developed in the case law beyond the conclusion that a defendant's amnesia should not, in itself, preclude his trial on the basis of incompetence. E.g., Regina v. Podola, [1960] 1 Q.B. 325. Since that time, however, a number of courts have undertaken thoughtful analyses of the issues. See United States ex rel. Parson v. Anderson, 354 F. Supp. 1060 (D.Del. 1972), aff'd 481 F.2d 94 (3d Cir.1973), cert. denied 414 U.S. 1072, 94 S.Ct. 586, 38 L.Ed.2d 479 (1973); Wilson v. United States, 129 U.S.App.D.C. 107, 391 F.2d 460 (D.C. Cir.1968); State v. McClendon, 101 Ariz. 285, 419 P.2d 69 (1966). Such cases have recognized that a defendant's amnesia may raise issues related to his ability to assist counsel or be tried in a manner consistent with fundamental fairness. We agree with the court in United States ex rel. Parson v. Anderson, supra , that in such cases the issue of competence to stand trial should be determined in accordance with the test enunciated in Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960). The questions to be asked regarding the defendant's competence to stand trial are: [1] whether he has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of factual understanding  and [2] whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him. Doggett v. Warden, 93 Nev. 591, 593, 572 P.2d 207, 208 (1977), quoting Dusky v. United States, supra . We conclude that in the instant case, since there was an agreement among the psychiatric evaluators of the appellant that he was aware and had a full understanding of the nature of the proceedings against him, and that he was fully capable of consulting with his counsel regarding the conduct of his defense, the court below did not err in finding appellant competent to stand trial. Appellant also suggests that, under the facts presented, the district court denied him due process of law by denying his motion, at the conclusion of the competency hearings, to be sent to Lake's Crossing for treatments which might rid him of his amnesia, citing State v. McClendon, supra . We must disagree. In McClendon, the court reversed a first degree murder conviction because the trial court had refused counsel's request for a continuance in order to obtain such treatment. However, while the court in McClendon held that treatment should be allowed if medical testimony were uncertain as to the permanence of the amnesia, id. at 74, the court did not hold, as appellant contends, that such treatment should be required if the court were not satisfied by the evidence that the claim of amnesia was genuine. As with similar determinations related to competency, such questions must be left to the trier of fact. See Doggett v. Warden, supra ; Criswell v. State, 84 Nev. 459, 443 P.2d 552 (1968). Thus, McClendon is inapposite to the case at hand. Considering the testimony presented, the trial court was not bound to conclude that appellant was in fact suffering from amnesia. Although this finding was not explicitly entered at the time of the competency hearing, it is clear from the record that such was the court's conclusion. [2]