Opinion ID: 171731
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Third Competency Hearing

Text: On August 17, counsel for Mr. DeShazer moved to continue the third competency hearing and requested independent competency evaluations. After a hearing, the district court granted the defense's requests. While those evaluations were underway, and before a new date had been set for a competency hearing, the district court set a preliminary trial date of January 4, 2005, and an alternate date of April 18, 2005. A few weeks before the January 4, 2005 trial date, counsel for Mr. DeShazer filed a motion asking the court to continue the trial, schedule a new competency hearing, and dismiss the charges pursuant to Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715, 92 S.Ct. 1845, 32 L.Ed.2d 435 (1972). The district court denied the motion to dismiss the charges pursuant to Jackson (Mr. DeShazer immediately appealed), but it granted the motion to continue the trial so that the court could yet again evaluate Mr. DeShazer's mental competency. The district court again indicated its suspicion that Mr. DeShazer was manipulating the system. In May 2005, Mr. DeShazer refused to be medicated any further and filed a motion to stay forced medication. The district court granted the motion despite its concern that Mr. DeShazer was malingering. In August 2005, Dr. Cristina Pietz, a federal examiner, determined that Mr. DeShazer suffered from no mental illness or defect. Rather, he had obsessive impulses that interfered with daily functioning. In July 2006, we dismissed Mr. DeShazer's interlocutory appeal based on Jackson for lack of appellate jurisdiction. See United States v. DeShazer, 451 F.3d 1221, 1222 (10th Cir.2006). The district court then denied another motion by defense counsel for hospitalization and further evaluation since one had been conducted in August 2005 by Dr. Pietz. Mr. DeShazer also had his counsel file a motion stating his desire to represent himself under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). In August 2006, the court held a third competency hearing. At that hearing, there was no real dispute that Mr. DeShazer rationally understood, inter alia, the nature of the proceedings against him, the strength of the government's evidence, and the potential availability of an insanity defense. Accordingly, the central question was whether Mr. DeShazer suffered from a mental disease that rendered him unable to assist in his defense. See 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a). Mr. DeShazer's expert, Dr. Bruce Kahn, who had examined Mr. DeShazer many times previously, testified that Mr. DeShazer was delusional and that this mental disease interfered with his ability to work with counsel. Dr. Kahn's testimony can be summarized as follows: Mr. DeShazer had been, and is at the present time, delusionally obsessed with the victim in that he believes she deliberately used him for the purpose of ruining his life. Because of these delusions, Mr. DeShazer is furious with the victim, and his sole intent is to avenge himself by making the truth about the victim be known. He thinks only the victim can deliver that truth by testifying at trial that he is a nice person and that she intentionally used him and tried to hurt him. This mindset is also the motivation for Mr. DeShazer's request to represent himself at trial. His counsel does not support that trial strategy, and Mr. Deshazer feels only he can effectively cross-examine the victim. In contrast, Dr. Pietz testified that Mr. DeShazer was not delusional; that his interest in the victim and his desire to put her on the stand to expose the truth was indicative of an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, rather than a mental illness; and that he could assist in his own defense if he chose to do so. The district court ultimately found Dr. Pietz's testimony more persuasive and thus found Mr. DeShazer competent to stand trial.