Opinion ID: 2617828
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The testimony of the Court Appointed Psychiatrist.

Text: Lankford claims that the court violated his rights guaranteed by the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 13 of the Idaho Constitution when it compelled him to be a witness against himself at a psychiatric examination conducted by Dr. Estes. Lankford also claims that the court's order subjected him to the psychiatric examination without assistance of counsel, thus, violating his sixth and fourteenth amendment rights under the United States Constitution, and his rights under Article 1, § 13 of the Idaho Constitution. On May 17, 1984, the district court ordered Dr. Estes, a psychiatrist, to examine Mark Lankford and report upon his psychiatric medical condition. Dr. Estes followed the court order and questioned Lankford in the Ada County Jail. Lankford's attorney was not present during the questioning. Following his examination of Lankford, Dr. Estes submitted his findings to the court. Later he testified as to those findings at the sentencing hearing. Dr. Estes testified that, prior to interviewing Lankford, he orally administered the Miranda Rights. Dr. Estes did not obtain a written waiver of Lankford's Miranda rights nor did he inform Lankford that his statements would be used as evidence in proving the aggravating circumstances necessary for the death penalty. Dr. Estes did advise Lankford that their conversation would not be subject to any doctor/patient privilege. Prior to allowing Dr. Estes to testify about his interview with Lankford, the trial court questioned Dr. Estes to assure that disclosure of the interview would pass constitutional muster. The court found that the examination took place with the consent and approval of counsel, after written notice to counsel, and that Lankford's comments to the psychiatrist were made voluntarily, with knowledge of his right to remain silent, and with knowledge that any statements he made could be used against him. The fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination and the sixth amendment right to counsel apply to custodial psychiatric exams conducted prior to sentencing as well as those conducted prior to trial. Adequate protection of these rights requires that the examining psychiatrist Mirandize the patient. Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981). In Estelle, after the State announced its intention to seek the death penalty, the trial court ordered a psychiatric examination to determine Estelle's competency to stand trial. The examination was conducted in the jail where he was being held. The examining doctor determined that Estelle was competent to stand trial and he was then tried and convicted. A separate sentencing proceeding was then held before a jury, as required by Texas law. The doctor who had conducted the pre-trial psychiatric examination testified for the State. The jury determined that the death penalty should be imposed. The case ultimately made its way to the federal district court by writ of habeas corpus where the death sentence was vacated because the court found constitutional error in admitting the doctor's testimony at the penalty phase. The United States Court of Appeals affirmed. The case was then appealed to United States Supreme Court which affirmed. The Court stated: The Fifth Amendment, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, commands that [n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. The essence of this basic constitutional principle is the requirement that the State which proposes to convict and punish an individual produce the evidence against him by the independent labor of its officers, not by the simple, cruel expedient of forcing it from his own lips. Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 581-582, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1867, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1961) (opinion announcing the judgment) (emphasis added). See also Murphy v. Waterfront Comm'n, 378 U.S. 52, 55, 84 S.Ct. 1594, 1596-1597, 12 L.Ed.2d 678 (1964); E. Griswold, The Fifth Amendment Today 7 (1955). The Court has held that the availability of the [Fifth Amendment] privilege does not turn upon the type of proceeding in which its protection is invoked, but upon the nature of the statement or admission and the exposure which it invites. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 49, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1455, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967). In this case, the ultimate penalty of death was a potential consequence of what respondent told the examining psychiatrist. Just as the Fifth Amendment prevents a criminal defendant from being made `the deluded instrument of his own conviction,' Culombe v. Connecticut, supra, [367 U.S.] at 581, [81 S.Ct. at] 1867, quoting 2 Hawkins, Pleas of the Crown 595 (8th ed. 1824), it protects him as well from being made the deluded instrument of his own execution. We can discern no basis to distinguish between the guilt and penalty phases of respondent's capital murder trial so far as the protection of the Fifth Amendment privilege is concerned. (Footnote omitted.) Given the gravity of the decision to be made at the penalty phase, the State is not relieved of the obligation to observe fundamental constitutional guarantees. Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. at 462-463, 101 S.Ct. at 1872-1873. As for the method of advising a suspect or defendant of his Miranda Rights, and of obtaining a waiver of those rights, there is no requirement that either be done in writing. The U.S. Constitution does not require a written warning or waiver, and Idaho has not required a written warning or waiver since such requirements were removed from I.C. § 19-853 in 1984. Accordingly, Dr. Estes did not violate Lankford's constitutional rights when he orally advised Lankford of his Miranda Rights and accepted an oral waiver. Since Lankford was properly Mirandized and there was no formalistic infirmity with his waiver, the only question which remains is whether Lankford's waiver was voluntary, knowing and intelligent. Lankford claims that his waiver was not voluntary, knowing and intelligent because Dr. Estes did not tell him that his disclosures could be used as evidence for the State during sentencing. We disagree. The very fact that he was Mirandized put Lankford on notice that what he said could be used against him during the sentencing hearing. This notice was furthered when Dr. Estes told Lankford that the doctor/patient privilege would not apply to Lankford's disclosures. Additionally, Lankford's attorney was involved in this process. The court sent defense counsel written notice of the court ordered psychiatric examination prior to the time it was conducted, and informed defense counsel that there was reason to believe that Lankford's mental condition would be a significant factor at sentencing. Defense counsel did not object at this point. A factor to be noted, although it is not pivotal to the outcome, is that Dr. Estes' testimony is not alleged to have presented the court with any new facts about the commission of the crime  rather the new material dealt only with psychological opinion testimony. Because Lankford was properly informed of his rights and he voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waived those rights and because Lankford's attorney knew that the psychiatric examination was going to take place, the court did not err in admitting Dr. Estes psychiatric testimony at the sentencing hearing.