Opinion ID: 603573
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: petitioner has failed to establish her standing

Text: 21 The district court held a hearing on February 23, 1993, for the purpose of determining whether petitioner has standing as next friend of John Brewer, and correctly concluded she does not. The facts of the present case are closely analogous to those presented to the Supreme Court in Baal, 495 U.S. at 731, 110 S.Ct. at 2223. In Baal, the defendant's parents filed a habeas petition in the district court hours before Baal's scheduled execution. The only evidence the petitioners presented in support of their petition was the affidavit of a psychiatrist who had not examined Baal, and who opined that Baal may not be competent to waive his legal remedies. Id. 495 U.S. at 736, 66 S.Ct. at 2225 (emphasis in original). The district court then conducted a hearing, after which it concluded that petitioners failed to establish their standing as next friends. Id. at 733, 66 S.Ct. at 2224. Upon review of the record, the district court found that all the evidence, other than the newly submitted affidavit, established Baal's legal competence, and that the affidavit was conclusory and lacking in sufficient foundation to warrant additional examination of Baal. The Supreme Court ultimately held that because petitioners had not come forward with meaningful evidence of Baal's incompetence, the district court correctly found that petitioners had not established standing, and correctly denied their request for a further evidentiary hearing on the question of Baal's competence to waive his right to proceed. Id. at 736, 66 S.Ct. at 2225. 22 The hearing which the district court below held on February 23, 1993, was analogous to the hearing which the district court held in Baal. The hearings in both cases provided the petitioners an opportunity to attempt to establish their standing. The district courts in both instances found that the petitioners had not presented sufficient evidence to establish standing. In Baal, the Supreme Court held that because the petitioners had not supplied the meaningful evidence necessary to support their claim of standing, they were not entitled to a further evidentiary hearing to explore the question of the defendant's competence. In the present case, because Ms. Brewer has likewise not presented such meaningful evidence, she was not entitled to a further evidentiary hearing on her son's competence, and therefore the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying her additional time to examine Brewer or conduct other discovery. 3 23 The district court determined that petitioner did not meet her burden of proving by clear evidence that the defendant is incompetent to waive his appellate rights. 4 The standard which the district court applied in reaching its determination is consistent with the Supreme Court's declaration in Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990), that the burden is on the 'next friend' clearly to establish the propriety of his status and thereby justify the jurisdiction of the court. Id. at 164, 110 S.Ct. at 1727-28 (emphasis added). In order to clearly establish standing, a petitioner must present meaningful evidence that [the defendant] was suffering from a mental disease, disorder, or defect that substantially affected his capacity to make an intelligent decision. Id. at 166, 110 S.Ct. at 1728-29. The Court reiterated this requirement in Baal. 495 U.S. at 736, 110 S.Ct. at 2225-26. 24 The district court did not err in determining that Ms. Brewer failed to clearly establish her standing, because the record shows that she did not provide the meaningful evidence which Whitmore and Baal demand. The evidence which she submitted is indistinguishable from that which the petitioners submitted in Baal, and which the Supreme Court found insufficient. In Baal, the petitioners presented an affidavit of a psychiatrist who had reviewed and disagreed with reports of experts who had examined Baal and found him competent, but who had never personally observed Baal. Id. at 735-36, 110 S.Ct. at 2225-26. Here, petitioner has submitted brief affidavits of two doctors who have never met Brewer, as well as an affidavit of Dr. Bayless, who examined Brewer and found him competent in 1988. Dr. Bayless speculates, based on information not available to him at that time, that Brewer's mental condition may have deteriorated during his incarceration, and that Brewer may now suffer from a major depressive disorder. 5 As in Baal, this conclusory evidence is insufficient to outweigh the substantial evidence in the record demonstrating the defendant's competence. Within the last two and one-half months, no less than four psychological experts have personally examined and tested Brewer and found him competent. 6 IV. THE ARIZONA STATE COURT'S DETERMINATIONS OF BREWER'S COMPETENCE ARE ENTITLED TO A PRESUMPTION OF CORRECTNESS 25 Our conclusion that Elsie Brewer has not established standing as next friend of John Brewer is bolstered by our obligation to accord a presumption of correctness to the state court's determinations of his competence. The Supreme Court has held that a state court's conclusion regarding a defendant's competence is due such a presumption where it is fairly supported by the record. Baal, 495 U.S. at 735, 110 S.Ct. at 2225; Maggio v. Fulford, 462 U.S. 111, 117, 103 S.Ct. 2261, 2264, 76 L.Ed.2d 794 (1983). 26 The state court's July 1988 determination that Brewer was competent to plead guilty is without question supported by the record. The state court's conclusion was based upon psychological reports from Dr. Bayless and Dr. Gerstenberger which evaluated Brewer's competence to stand trial as well as his mental condition at the time of the offense. Furthermore, the state court conducted an in court colloquy with Brewer concerning his desire to plead guilty and his understanding of his circumstances. 27 On November 23, 1992, the state trial court again found Brewer competent, in a hearing on Brewer's motion to dismiss an automatic notice of post-conviction relief. At this hearing, the court itself extensively examined Brewer concerning his reasons for wishing to forego post-conviction relief proceedings. In light of Brewer's statements in court, and based upon its review of the entire record, the state court concluded that it found no reason to change its previous finding that Brewer was competent to act on his own behalf. Hearing of Nov. 23, 1992, R.T. at 45. The court found further that an affidavit of Dr. Rollins submitted by Brewer's former counsel was insufficient to raise questions concerning Brewer's competence. Id. at 25. The two and a half page affidavit suggests in a conclusory fashion that further psychological examination of Brewer is needed to determine his competence. Considering the complete absence of contrary evidence, we must conclude that the state court's determination of Brewer's competence at the November 1992 hearing was fairly supported by the record, and therefore entitled to a presumption of correctness. See Lenhard v. Wolff, 603 F.2d 91, 93 (9th Cir.1979) (a determination of competence remains valid where, even though time has elapsed, there has been no showing of incompetence). 28 We note further that additional evidence of Brewer's psychological condition gathered within the last two and a half months corroborates the state court's determinations. Four psychological experts who have personally examined Brewer have determined that he is competent, and this evidence has been presented in various filings with the Arizona courts, the district court below, and this court on appeal. 29 Because we presume that the state court correctly determined Brewer to be competent, and because petitioner has not come forward with meaningful evidence to undermine that determination, we must conclude that she has failed to provide an adequate explanation why Brewer cannot appear on his own behalf. Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 163, 110 S.Ct. at 1727.