Opinion ID: 2633743
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Competency as Irrelevant

Text: Only one state, Kentucky, holds that the mental competency of a fugitive in extradition proceedings is irrelevant as related to the narrow issues involved in such proceedings. In Kellems v. Buchignani, 518 S.W.2d 788 (Ky.1974), the Kentucky Court of Appeal, in a two-paragraph split opinion, disposed of the issue in a single sentence: After careful review of the records and the briefs, this court is of the opinion that the question of the mental competence of a fugitive in extradition proceedings is not relevant. 518 S.W.2d at 788 (citing Charlton v. Kelly, 229 U.S. 447, 33 S.Ct. 945, 57 L.Ed. 1274 and State, ex rel., v. Owen, 133 Ohio St. 96, 12 N.E.2d 144 [1937]). Four justices concurred without opinion. Another justice issued a strenuous dissenting opinion (joined by a second justice), arguing that a fugitive ought to have the degree of mental competency necessary to participate rationally in the limited nature of extradition proceedings. 518 S.W.2d at 789 (Palmore, J., dissenting). Neither of the two cases cited by the Kellems majority supports its holding. In Charlton, the United States Supreme Court discussed the exclusion of evidence of the accused's insanity, noting that if the evidence pertained to the accused's present ability to defend against the allegations or his insanity at the time of the commission of the crime, it should be heard by the court in the jurisdiction of the crime. 229 U.S. at 462, 33 S.Ct. 945. In Owen, the Ohio Supreme Court addressed the question of whether lunacy proceedings concerning the alleged fugitive's present sanity that were ongoing in a probate court would prevent extradition. Stating that the probate court's proceedings were civil and involved standards that differed substantially from an assessment of sanity in the context of a criminal trial, and noting the holding in Charlton, the Ohio court held the probate court's proceedings would not deter the extradition. Owen, 133 Ohio St. at 105-06, 12 N.E.2d 144. Although the question of the accused's present sanity was apparently at issue in an ongoing civil proceeding, his competency to understand the extradition proceedings was never raised or discussed. See also Romeo v. Roache, 820 F.2d 540, 544 (1st Cir.1987) (short of evidence that accused person is catatonic, totally unable to communicate, or has lost all contact with reality, competency is not proper subject of inquiry in extradition proceeding). Similarly, other state courts have held or noted that the competency of the alleged fugitive is irrelevant in extradition proceedings but have done so without analyzing the question of competency as it relates to the narrow issues involved in an extradition proceeding and have cited Charlton as supporting authority. See, e.g., State ex rel. Buster v. Purdy, 219 So.2d 43 (Fla.Dist.App.1969); In re Cohen, 23 N.J.Super. 209, 92 A.2d 837 (1952). Those cases, therefore, do not lend assistance here.