Opinion ID: 1621755
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: rebuttal psychiatric evidence

Text: Defendant next contends that the testimony of Dr. Athar, a psychiatrist who had treated defendant in 1991 while he was a patient at M.T.M.H.I, and Endean Gerdes, the treatment coordinator at M.T.M.H.I., introduced at the sentencing hearing by the State to rebut the mitigating evidence that the defendant was mentally ill, was obtained in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel and his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. In Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981), the United States Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination precludes the State from subjecting a capital defendant to a psychiatric examination concerning future dangerousness without first informing the defendant that he has a right to remain silent and that anything he says can be used against him at the sentencing proceeding. Id., 451 U.S. at 471, 101 S.Ct. at 1872-76. Once a capital defendant is formally charged, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel precludes such an examination unless defense counsel is first notified that the psychiatric examination will encompass the issue of the defendant's future dangerousness. Id., 451 U.S. at 471, 101 S.Ct. at 1877; see also Powell v. Texas, 492 U.S. 680, 109 S.Ct. 3146, 106 L.Ed.2d 551 (1989). When a capital defendant asserts a mental status defense, however, he waives the right to raise a Fifth Amendment challenge to the prosecution's use of evidence obtained through the psychiatric examination to rebut the defense. Buchanan v. Kentucky, 483 U.S. 402, 422-23, 107 S.Ct. 2906, 2917, 2918, 97 L.Ed.2d 336 (1987). Likewise, the United States Supreme Court has stated that there is no Sixth Amendment violation where defense counsel requests the psychiatric evaluation and is on notice that if a mental status defense is presented, psychological evidence will be used by the State in rebuttal. Id. Applying those principles to the facts in this case, we agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals' conclusion that the State's rebuttal testimony was appropriately introduced. Defense counsel requested the first mental evaluation in this case and was notified of each subsequent psychiatric evaluation which was court ordered at the request of either the defendant or the State. Bush relied upon his mental status at the time of the offense as a mitigating circumstance in the penalty phase of the trial. Accordingly, introduction of the rebuttal testimony did not violate the defendant's Fifth or Sixth Amendment rights.