Opinion ID: 758855
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sagastegui was competent prior to and on march 11, 1996.

Text: 50 The Supreme Court has held that the prerequisite showing of the real party in interest's incompetence is not satisfied 'where an evidentiary hearing shows that the defendant has given a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his right to proceed.'  Baal, 495 U.S. at 734, 110 S.Ct. 2223. A state court's determination regarding a defendant's competency is entitled to a presumption of correctness on federal habeas review. Id. at 735, 110 S.Ct. 2223. A federal court may not overturn such determinations unless their correctness is rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(1). 51 The trial court twice determined that Sagastegui was competent--most recently following the hearing held on March 11, 1996. The Washington Supreme Court explicitly affirmed those findings. Unless those findings are rebutted, we cannot conclude that Sagastegui was incompetent on or before March 11, 1996. Moreover, those findings are extremely well supported by expert opinions, psychological testing, and Sagastegui's courtroom demeanor. 52 Vargas's challenges to the state trial court's findings at the March 1996 hearing rest on: (1) affidavits from laypersons who know Sagastegui that suggest he is mentally ill and suffers from multiple personalities, (2) evidence that Sagastegui prevented a full and fair hearing about his competence by concealing his mental illness, (3) the existence of medical reports about Sagastegui's competence that were not presented to the trial court, and (4) the affidavit of Dr. Frankel that suggests Sagastegui might suffer from a mental illness that prior experts failed to rule out. 53 None of the evidence presented by Vargas clearly and convincingly rebuts the state court's findings based on its March 1996 hearing. The lay affidavits do present assertions that the examining experts and the trial court would undoubtedly have found helpful in assessing Sagastegui's competence. Many of these possibilities were, however, known to the experts who determined Sagastegui was nonetheless competent at that time. Vargas presents nothing to suggest that, even in the absence of the trial court's findings, this evidence would establish Sagastegui's incompetence. Dr. Frankel's report is conclusory, is not based on an examination of Sagastegui, and merely suggests the possibility that Sagastegui suffers from an undiagnosed mental illness which might render him incompetent. 54 Vargas's challenge to the fullness and fairness of the trial court hearings also fails. Although we do not rule out the possibility that a defendant's deception could undermine a trial court's finding of competence, Vargas's assertions are not sufficient to support such a holding here. Many of the experts who have examined Sagastegui have recognized that he is unreliable and/or deceitful during examinations. We decline, therefore, to conclude that all of the experts and the trial court were fooled into believing Sagastegui is competent because he lied to them in order to further a grand suicidal scheme. 55 Vargas does raise a troubling question about the possible withholding of relevant information from the trial court and examiners by the State. This is fairly speculative, however. The only report that Vargas is certain exists and was available to the State at the time of the trial court's hearing, but was not presented, is Dr. Grubb's report. The State states that it did not present that report to the trial court because Sagastegui exercised his privilege to prevent disclosure of the report. Given the overwhelming evidence of competence presented to the trial court, however, it is unlikely that Dr. Grubb's report would have changed the court's findings. We conclude Vargas has not rebutted the presumption of the correctness of the state court's findings from the March 1996 hearing. 56