Opinion ID: 1799201
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Requests for hearing on mental evaluation and for continuance

Text: For his second and third points on appeal, Mr. Greene asserts that the Trial Court erred by (1) refusing to hold a hearing in response to his objection to a mental evaluation performed by State Hospital personnel, and (2) denying the request of his counsel, William M. Pearson, for a continuance. The facts surrounding each point are closely related, and thus we address them together. We hold that both points have merit and require reversal. One of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission attorneys representing Mr. Greene moved on January 13, 1995, that Mr. Greene be committed to the State Hospital for a mental examination. An order committing Mr. Green for that purpose was entered on February 3, 1995. On July 24, 1995, an evaluation was yet to be done, and Mr. Greene's attorneys asked that the proceedings be suspended until the evaluation could occur. On July 26, 1995, State Hospital personnel interviewed Mr. Greene at the prison where he was incarcerated. The resulting report was filed on August 2, 1995. On August 10, 1995, Mac Carder, one of the Arkansas Public Defenders Commission (APDC) attorneys representing Mr. Greene, objected to the report on the ground that the examination had lasted only one and one-half hours, that Mr. Greene had not been committed to the State Hospital as ordered by the Trial Court, and that prison guards had been present during the examination interview. A hearing on the matter was requested, and the Trial Court set the hearing for September 1, 1995. A subsequent letter from the Trial Court to counsel indicated that the hearing would be held on August 31, 1995. An order entered August 24, 1995, provided for Mr. Greene to be transferred from the prison so that he could attend the August 31 hearing. The hearing on the competency report did not occur. There is nothing in the record showing that the hearing was cancelled or that counsel withdrew the request. It may simply have gotten lost in the wake of Mr. Greene's switching lawyers that began shortly before the hearing was to have been held. Attorney Steve Jackson entered his appearance as Mr. Greene's counsel on August 25, 1995, and sought, and later received, a continuance. Trial was moved from September 18, 1995, to November 13, 1995. The APDC lawyers moved to be relieved as counsel on August 31, 1995, and asserted that they had received word from Mr. Greene on August 28, 1995, that he was terminating their services. The APDC's motion was granted on August 31, 1995. Mr. Jackson was later terminated, and Mr. Greene indicated he would defend himself. The Trial Court appointed attorneys William M. Pearson and David L. Gibbons to be on call as advisors should Mr. Greene need them. Mr. Greene then hired Dale Adams, who entered an appearance on November 9, 1995, and had the trial continued from November 13, 1995, to February 26, 1996. Mr. Pearson, who ultimately represented Mr. Greene at the resentencing procedure and who represents Mr. Greene in this appeal, was finally appointed during a hearing on January 31, 1996, with the resentencing procedure set for February 26, 1996. During oral argument of this case before this Court, Mr. Pearson said he first learned of the request for, setting of, and failure to hold the hearing on the objections to the mental evaluation as he was preparing this appeal, and thus he had no reason to pursue the matter before the Trial Court. The record does not demonstrate the contrary, and we have no reason to suggest that Mr. Pearson was in any manner negligent with respect to the matter. The State argues that the hearing issue is barred because Mr. Greene obtained no hearing; made no further objection to the denial of a hearing; and obtained no ruling on the adequacy of the report. The point is, however, that Mr. Greene obtained no ruling on the report's adequacy because no hearing was provided in which he could make an objection. The failure to hold the hearing constitutes the prejudice. The applicable statute clearly obligated the Trial Court to hold the hearing. It provides that, if the report filed under Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-305 is contested, as it was by defense counsel here, the court shall hold a hearing on the issue. Ark.Code Ann. § 5-2-309(c)(Repl.1997)(emphasis added). As we discuss below, there is no requirement that counsel must pursue a hearing on objections to a mental evaluation once the hearing has been requested. Obviously the matter was brought to the attention of the Trial Court. Even if there were such a requirement, however, nothing in the transcript from the January 31 hearing reveals whether Mr. Pearson knew or could have known of the fact that the hearing had been requested and set but not held. There is nothing in the record to show that Mr. Pearson, upon his appointment on January 31, 1996, received the transcript from the August 10, 1995 hearing in which the objection to the mental evaluation and request for a hearing were made. We also do not know whether Mr. Pearson was, at that time, given the correspondence from the Trial Court referring to an August 31 hearing. The State asserts that reversal is not required because Mr. Greene has not demonstrated any prejudice flowing from the denial of a hearing. It also cites Hufford v. State, 314 Ark. 181, 861 S.W.2d 108 (1993), for the proposition that substantial compliance with the examination procedures is all that is required. Generally speaking, appellants must show prejudice in order to prevail, Goff v. State, 329 Ark. 513, 953 S.W.2d 38 (1997), but the denial of a hearing here deprived Mr. Greene of the opportunity to demonstrate errors in the evaluation process. Despite the State's assertion, Mr. Greene alleges breaches of the court's order committing him for a mental evaluation and of the governing statute, and a hearing was required so that the Trial Court could evaluate those claims. In Jacobs v. State, 294 Ark. 551, 744 S.W.2d 728 (1988), we were not faced, as we are here, with a judge's denial of a hearing requested pursuant to § 5-2-309(c). Rather, the question in Jacobs was whether the judge erred by denying defense counsel's request for a full mental evaluation and report. We answered yes and reversed because a preliminary report raised a reasonable doubt about the defendant's competency to stand trial. Here, the judge allowed for the mental evaluation and report but failed to hold the follow-up hearing in which the defendant could contest the report. In an analogous situation, we held in Rankin v. State, 329 Ark. 379, 948 S.W.2d 397 (1997), that the Trial Court erred when it admitted the defendant's custodial statements without conducting a hearing on the defendant's suppression motion, as it had been requested to do. The statute there, like the one applicable here, provided in mandatory terms that a trial court must hold a hearing on a motion to suppress. Although the statements were later admitted without objection, and although there was never a subsequent request for a hearing or objection, we said that the pretrial motion to suppress, by itself, was sufficient to raise the issue and trigger the judge's statutory obligation to hold the hearing. We said, We know of no authority, and the State cites none, that requires a defendant to raise the question of the admissibility of his incriminating custodial statements more than once. 329 Ark. at 399-400, 948 S.W.2d at 408. Employing the limited-remand procedure, we sent the case back to the Trial Court so that it could hold a hearing to determine the admissibility of the statements and order a new trial if the statements were found to have been made in the absence of a knowing and intelligent waiver. We agree with Mr. Greene and hold that the Trial Court committed reversible error by failing to hold a hearing on his objections to the mental evaluation. A limited remand would be appropriate if this were the only point on which we were reversing. A full resentencing hearing, however, is necessary in view of our holding on the prior violent felony point and our holding on Mr. Greene's argument concerning the denial of his counsel's motion for continuance, which we address next. We conclude there is merit to Mr. Green's point alleging error in the Trial Court's refusal of Mr. Pearson's persistent requests for a continuance in view of the short period of time between his appointment and the resentencing proceeding. In the hearing on January 31, 1996, Mr. Pearson said there were aspects of the record in the case, which was then set for resentencing less than one month hence, of which he was ignorant. He advised the Trial Court that he would need time to review everything and prepare for trial. The Trial Court made it clear that no continuance could be expected because of Mr. Greene's actions in hiring and dismissing counsel and thus causing earlier delays. In response to Mr. Pearson's concern about whether all items previous counsel had raised had been decided, the Trial Court said the things that have accumulated through all this time deal mainly with motions dealing with constitutional issues and questions of law that the Court has basically ruled on. Mr. Pearson moved for a continuance on February 13, 1996. Although nothing in the motion reveals the transcripts and records he had received by that point, the motion recited that Mr. Pearson had determined that the case would involve complicated and protracted preparation to obtain and review all matters, Motions, records, or otherwise compiled at the prior trial and in anticipation of this trial.... Mr. Pearson also filed on February 13, 1996, a motion to procure transcript of all pre-trial hearings. The motion recited that counsel had learned that numerous written, as well as oral, Motions have been made in Defendant's behalf. The motion stated that counsel was unaware of this Court's rulings regarding same. Counsel asserted that he was entitled to know all matters, Motions, rulings and anything pertaining to all pre-trial proceedings conducted against Defendant. He requested that the Trial Court order and direct the Court Reporter in this cause to prepare a transcript of all pre-trial proceedings conducted against Defendant since the issuance of our mandate in Greene I . The Trial Court denied the motion for continuance on February 14, 1996. Another pretrial hearing occurred on February 19, 1996. Mr. Pearson reiterated his grounds for a continuance. We have often held that [t]he burden is on the movant to show good cause for a continuance. Oliver v. State, 312 Ark. 466, 851 S.W.2d 415 (1993). A motion for a continuance is addressed to the discretion of the trial judge and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Verdict v. State, 315 Ark. 436, 868 S.W.2d 443 (1993). The burden of proving an abuse of discretion due to prejudice resulting from the denial of a continuance is upon the appellant. Henderson v. State, 310 Ark. 287, 835 S.W.2d 865 (1992). Prejudice is not presumed in this context; instead, an appellant must demonstrate prejudice before this court will consider a trial court's denial of a continuance to be an abuse of discretion. King v. State, 314 Ark. 205, 862 S.W.2d 229 (1993). Sanders v. State, 317 Ark. 328, 340, 878 S.W.2d 391, 398 (1994). Although we, and the Court of Appeals, have acknowledged that a last-minute change in counsel may occasion, or require, a continuance in order to give the attorney time to prepare, Leggins v. State, 271 Ark. 616, 609 S.W.2d 76 (1980); Pickens v. State, 6 Ark. App. 58, 638 S.W.2d 682 (1982), those cases concerned whether a last-minute request to change counsel should have been granted. A factor to consider in making that determination is whether the change in counsel will necessitate a continuance. We agree with Mr. Greene's argument that, once the Trial Court has determined that a change in counsel is to be permitted, the new counsel must be accorded sufficient time to prepare for trial. In Leggins v. State, supra , the issue was whether the Trial Court erred when it refused to allow the defendant to dismiss his court-appointed attorney in favor of one hired by him. The request was made some two weeks prior to the date set for trial. We held that the Trial Court had not abused his discretion in refusing the request, and we wrote: Although appellant did not specifically request a postponement of his trial, the trial court appropriately treated his request as a motion for continuance since a change of attorneys so close to trial would have required the granting of one. 271 Ark. at 618, 609 S.W.2d at 78. True, the proceeding for which Mr. Pearson needed time to prepare was not a full-blown capital murder trial, but there was a large record to be reviewed in order that Mr. Greene have the full benefit of counsel in a proceeding to determine life or death. We understand the Trial Court's frustration with the changes in counsel, but we conclude that, once the ultimate change in counsel was permitted, it was an abuse of discretion to permit Mr. Pearson less than a month to prepare, especially when it was apparent, or at least suggested, that he had not received all of the record as late as eleven days prior to the proceeding.