Court Opinion

ID: 9670449
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:20:46.458883+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:04.586876
License: Public Domain

PAULSON, Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent.
The record before us contains a plethora of evidence that should have raised a reasonable doubt as to Fischer’s competency in the mind of the trial judge.
The psychiatric report prepared by the staff of the State Hospital at Jamestown revealed that Fischer’s history of abnormal mental behavior is extensive. In 1968 Fischer was hospitalized in St. Michael’s Hospital in Grand Forks and was at that time considered to be suffering from a schizophrenic reaction as well as from depression. In 1972 Fischer was committed to the High Ridge Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin, and at that time exhibited “clearcut florid psychotic symptomatology”, consisting of delusions and “persecutory ideation”. He believed he was being followed and that the Mafia and the FBI were probably looking for him. Fischer attempted suicide at three different times — twice by shotgun and once by cutting his wrists.
In support of their motion to hold a competency hearing, Fischer’s counsel submitted affidavits to the trial judge further evidencing Fischer’s incompetency to assist in his defense. Their three affidavits, considered together, asserted that Fischer had agreed to plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter and that, after negotiations were made and the opportunity presented to Fischer, he refused to so plead; that Fischer informed his counsel that he would testify on his own behalf, that defenses were formulated with the expectation that Fischer would so testify, that defense counsel in his opening statement informed the jury that Fischer would testify, and that, thereafter, Fischer refused to testify; that Fischer gave his counsel no rational basis for refusing to testify; that Fischer had accused his counsel of lying to him and of conspiring with the state’s attorney and the police to convict him of murder in the first degree; and that, on the basis of these facts, Fischer’s counsel concluded that Fischer was incompetent and unable to assist in his own defense.
Despite this evidence, the trial court concluded that there existed no reasonable doubt of Fischer’s competency to stand trial. This conclusion was apparently based upon the trial court’s questioning of Fischer, the State Hospital staff’s recommendation that Fischer was competent to stand trial, or both.1 I do not dispute the psychiatrist’s recommendation, nor do I question the fact that Fischer’s responses to the trial court’s questions could be construed to be those of a rational man.2 My objection is *162that, in making its determination that no reasonable doubt of competency existed, the trial court weighed this evidence against the contrary evidence of Fischer’s mental history and the affidavits of his counsel. That this type of balancing is proscribed by the United States Constitution is made clear by a reading of the applicable federal decisions.
The United States Supreme Court has decided the precise issue that we now have before us. In Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 385-386, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966), the defendant was convicted of murdering his common-law wife and was sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court it was urged that the defendant should have been granted a competency hearing under Illinois law, notwithstanding his counsel’s failure to request such hearing. The evidence before the Illinois trial court included the uncon-tradicted facts that the defendant had a history of abnormal behavior, and had been confined as a psychopathic patient. It was also undisputed that the defendant, Robinson, had committed acts of violence, including the killing of his infant son, and that Robinson had also attempted suicide. In rebuttal, the State offered a stipulation that an expert witness, if called, would testify that the defendant Robinson, when examined two or three months before trial, was competent and able to assist his counsel. The trial court also questioned the defendant orally, at which time the defendant apparently appeared to be competent.
On these facts, the Illinois trial court concluded that a hearing was not required. The decision of the trial court was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Illinois, under the case name People v. Robinson, 22 Ill.2d 162, 174 N.E.2d 820 (1961). The case was then heard in the federal courts on a petition for habeas corpus.
The Supreme Court of the United States held in Pate, supra 383 U.S. at 385-386, 86 S.Ct. at 842, that, on the facts presented, a hearing was required under the United States Constitution, stating:
“We believe that the evidence introduced on Robinson’s behalf entitled him to a hearing on this issue. The court’s failure to make such inquiry thus deprived Robinson of his constitutional right to a fair trial. [Citation omitted.] Illinois jealously guards this right. Where the evidence raises a ‘bona fide doubt’ as to a defendant’s competence to stand trial, the judge on his own motion must impanel a jury and conduct a sanity hearing pursuant to Ill.Rev.Stat., c. 38, § 104-2 (1963). [Citation omitted.] The Supreme Court of Illinois held that the evidence here was not sufficient to require a hearing in light of the mental alertness and understanding displayed in Robinson’s ‘colloquies’ with the trial judge. [Citation omitted.] But this reasoning offers no justification for ignoring the uncontradicted testimony of Robinson’s history of pronounced irrational behavior. While Robinson’s demeanor at trial might be relevant to the ultimate decision as to his sanity, it cannot be relied upon to dispense with a hearing on that very issue. [Citation omitted.] Likewise, the stipulation of Dr. Haines’ testimony was some evidence of Robinson’s ability to assist in his defense. But, as the state prosecutor seemingly admitted, on the facts presented to the trial court it could not properly have been deemed dispositive on the issue of Robinson’s competence.”
The mandate of Pate is clear: once evidence creating a reasonable doubt as to a defendant’s competency is raised, a competency hearing is required. The doubt raised may not be dissipated by resort to contrary *163evidence that may offer some indication of competency.
Pate clearly controls our present determination. I can see no meaningful distinctions between the instant case and Pate. In both Pate and the instant case, the defendants had long histories of mental illnesses, including hospitalizations at mental institutions, and repeated attempted suicides. In both cases the defendants were found by psychiatrists to be competent to stand trial, notwithstanding the defendants’ prior histories. In both cases the defendants were questioned by the trial judges and their respective “colloquies” with the judges indicated that the defendants appeared to be rational.
If there is a material distinction between Pate and this case, it is that, in Pate, counsel for the defendant never moved to conduct a competency hearing, nor otherwise directly suggested to the trial judge that Robinson was not competent to stand trial. In the instant case, Fischer’s counsel not only moved to conduct a competency hearing, but also submitted affidavits wherein they related to the trial court evidence of Fischer’s ineompetency to stand trial, as well as examples of his lack of cooperation with counsel.
Although this circumstance is not conclusive, it is a further factor that should have raised a reasonable doubt as to Fischer’s competency, and is one that makes this an even stronger case for reversal than Pate. The absence of this factor in Pate was one of the main bases for the dissent in that case.3
Moore v. United States, 464 F.2d 663 (9th Cir. 1972), a case not discussed by the majority, further illuminates the issue before us. In Moore, the defendant pleaded guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) [bank robbery]. He later sought federal collateral relief, alleging that he was incompetent at the time he entered his guilty plea.
The issue before the Circuit Court of Appeals was whether the record before it revealed facts that compelled a Pate hearing. The record showed that Moore was examined by a psychiatrist shortly before his arraignment and was found to be competent to stand trial. The recommendation to proceed with trial was made even though Moore manifested abnormal mental trends at the time of examination.4 A Federal Bureau of Prisons report was also in evidence, relating Moore’s history of mental illness. No other testimony was introduced at the time of arraignment.
On these facts, the Circuit Court of Appeals in Moore held that a competency hearing should have been held, and that the failure to hold a hearing deprived Moore of due process of law. The Court cited Pate as authority for its holding, and it is the Court’s interpretation of Pate that is pertinent to this case. In Moore, supra 464 F.2d at 666, that Court stated:
“Under the rule of Pate v. Robinson (1966) 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815, a due process evidentiary hearing is constitutionally compelled at any time that there is ‘substantial evidence’ that the defendant may be mentally incompetent to stand trial. ‘Substantial evidence’ is a term of art. ‘Evidence’ encompasses all information properly before the court, whether it is in the form of testimony or exhibits formally admitted or it is in the form of medical reports or other kinds of reports that have been filed with the court. Evidence is ‘sub*164stantial’ if it raises a reasonable doubt about the defendant’s competency to stand trial. Once there is such evidence from any source, there is a doubt that cannot be dispelled by resort to conflicting evidence. The function of the trial court in applying Pate’s substantial evidence test is not to determine the ultimate issue: Is the defendant competent to stand trial? It [sic] sole function is to decide whether there is any evidence which, assuming its truth, raises a reasonable doubt about the defendant’s competency. At any time that such evidence appears, the trial court su a sponte must order an evidentiary hearing on the competency issue. It is only after the eviden-tiary hearing, applying the usual rules appropriate to trial, that the court decides the issue of competency of the defendant to stand trial.”
Moore makes it clear, if Pate did not, that the finding of a “reasonable doubt” as to competency is not to be made by balancing conflicting evidence. If the right to a competency hearing is to be more than a paper right, trial judges must not decide the ultimate issue of competency until after a hearing has, been afforded the defendant.
In Rand v. Swenson, 501 F.2d 394 (8th Cir. 1974), the defendant was convicted in a Missouri state court of second degree murder. After exhausting his state remedies, Rand brought an action in federal district court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, alleging, among other things, that he was improperly denied a psychiatric examination or hearing on the question of his competency to stand trial. The United States District Court granted relief,5 and, on appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the basic issue was “whether there was sufficient evidence before the state court trial judge to raise a ‘bona fide doubt’ as to Rand’s competency to stand trial”. Rand, supra 501 F.2d at 395.
The evidence before the state trial court consisted solely of affidavits of Rand’s counsel wherein counsel related that, from their examination of hospital records, counsel had discovered that the defendant had been previously diagnosed as having mental problems, and he had previously attempted suicide. The affidavits of Rand’s counsel further stated that, in counsel’s opinion, formed from their own observations of Rand, Rand lacked the capacity to assist in his own defense.
The record revealed in Rand that the trial judge overruled the motion for a competency hearing on the basis of his own observations of the defendant during the trial. In rejecting this as a permissible basis for denial of the motion for a competency hearing, the Court of Appeals stated, in Rand, supra 501 F.2d at 395:
“The state contends that the trial judge is entitled to place heavy reliance on his own observations of the defendant during the trial in order to determine if there is a ‘bona fide doubt’ as to the defendant’s competency to stand trial. However, as Judge Meredith noted and as the parties agree, the critical question is not whether Rand was competent to stand trial, but whether there was sufficient doubt raised as to Rand’s competency that the state trial court should have ordered a psychiatric examination and held a hearing. As the Supreme Court noted in Pate v. Robinson, supra [383 U.S.] at 386, 86 S.Ct. at 842, ‘While [a defendant’s] demeanor at trial might be relevant to the ultimate decision as to his sanity, it cannot be relied upon to dispense with a hearing on that very issue.’ ”
I recognize from a reading of Pate, Moore, and Rand, among others, that no test has yet been devised which, once applied to the facts of a particular case, will yield a precise determination of the issue now before us. As stated in Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 180, 95 S.Ct. 896, 908, 43 L.Ed.2d 103, 1975, wherein Pate was clarified and reaffirmed:
*165“There are, of course, no fixed or immutable signs which invariably indicate the need for further inquiry to determine fitness to proceed; the question is often a difficult one in which a wide range of manifestations and subtle nuances are implicated.”
Yet we do know that certain factors are deemed relevant, and Pate has prescribed the method by which these factors are to be analyzed. Quoting again from Drope, supra, 420 U.S. at 180, 95 S.Ct. at 908, the United States Supreme Court stated:
“The import of our decision in Pate v. Robinson is that evidence of a defendant’s irrational behavior, his demeanor at trial, and any prior medical opinion on competence to stand trial are all relevant in determining whether further inquiry is required, but that even one of these factors standing alone may, in some circumstances, be sufficient.”
Another factor that should definitely be considered is a lawyer’s representations concerning the competence of his client. Drope, supra, 420 U.S. at 177-178, 95 S.Ct. at 906-907, n. 13.
In the present case, we do not have one factor “standing alone”. Rather, we have many indicia of Fischer’s inability to aid in his defense. Fischer has a long history of severe mental problems, including institu-tionalizations, diagnoses of psychosis, and attempted suicides. Fischer evinced a marked lack of cooperation with his counsel and, in fact, accused his counsel of conspiring against him. His counsel made repeated representations to the trial court that, in their opinion, Fischer was not competent to aid in his defense.
Whatever the perimeter of “reasonable doubt” of competency may be, the above factors surely place this case within those outer limits. Fischer’s colloquies with the trial judge and the psychiatrist’s report, although relevant, may not be held to dissipate this doubt.
I would vacate the conviction and remand for a new trial, provided, of course, that at
a proper hearing Fischer is first found to be competent to assist in his defense.
VOGEL, J., concurs.

. The trial court’s reliance upon its oral examination of Fischer is evidenced by the following statement made by the court at the time it denied Fischer’s motion to hold a competency hearing: “Well, I think [Fischer] understands. He seems to understand this. I have interrogated him with some of the most incisive questions that I could devise, and he seems to respond with a complete understanding.”

. It is significant to note, however, that the psychiatrist’s recommendation was made *162approximately nine months prior to trial and stated that the defendant “should be returned to the court’s jurisdiction at the earliest possible time”. Considering this wording together with the diagnosis “schizophrenic reaction in remission” — which, by definition, is but a temporary state — the continued validity of the recommendation at the time of trial is certainly questionable.

. As stated in Pate, supra 383 U.S. at 391, 86 S.Ct. at 845 (Harlan, J., dissenting): “The conclusive factor is that Robinson’s own lawyers, the two men who apparently had the closest contact with the defendant during the proceedings, never suggested he was incompetent to stand trial and never moved to have him examined on incompetency grounds during trial . . ..”

. Although Moore may be distinguished from the present case on this ground — as Fischer was in a state of “remission” at the time he was examined — this distinction does not detract from the Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation of Pate, which is what is relevant in the instant case.

. Rand v. Swenson, 365 F.Supp. 1294 (E.D. Mo.1973).