Court Opinion

ID: 9494804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:47:35.062207+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:38.410243
License: Public Domain

BYE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
Unlike the majority, I would apply the strict scrutiny standard of review for the reasons enunciated by the Sixth Circuit in United States v. Brandon, 158 F.3d 947, 956-61 (6th Cir.1998). But even under the majority’s three-part test, the charges against Dr. Sell are not sufficiently serious to forcibly inject him with antipsychotic drugs on the chance it will make him competent to stand trial. I therefore respectfully dissent.
The first part of the majority’s test requires the government to demonstrate an essential interest that outweighs his interest in remaining free from medication. Ante at 567. The majority perfunctorily concludes the government’s interest in prosecuting the defendant for sixty-two counts of fraud and one count of money laundering qualifies as an essential interest that trumps Dr. Sell’s significant liberty interest in refusing antipsychotic medication. I strongly disagree.
While the government possesses an interest in bringing a defendant to trial, ante at 568, I do not believe every charge is sufficient to justify forcible medication of a defendant. See Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S. 127, 135, 112 S.Ct. 1810, 118 L.Ed.2d 479 (1992) (stating the government might be able to medicate a defendant involuntarily if “it could not obtain an adjudication of [his] guilt or innocence by using less intrusive means”) (emphasis added). It is helpful to compare two recent decisions confronting this precise issue. In United States v. Weston, 255 F.3d 873 (D.C.Cir.2001), the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recognized the government’s interest in adjudicating those who violate the law. In that case, Russell Weston entered the Capitol building and shot three police officers, killing two of them. A grand jury indicted Weston on two counts of murder, and one count of attempted murder of a federal law officer, in addition to three counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence. Weston explained that “[t]he government’s interest in finding, convicting, and punishing criminals reaches its zenith when the crime is the murder of federal police officers in a place crowded with bystanders where a branch of government conducts its business.” 255 F.3d at 881. Weston also noted “[t]he statutory sentences for the crimes Weston is accused of committing — life in prison and death — reflect the intensity of the government’s interest in bringing those suspected of such crimes to trial.” Id. (emphasis added).
Weston typifies the case where the government’s interest is paramount because the charges include the most serious crimes known to man. Few cases involve crimes as serious as those in Weston, how*573ever. In Brandon, the Sixth Circuit noted the government’s reduced interest in trying a defendant accused of lesser crimes. 158 F.3d at 947. Ealph Brandon was charged with sending a threatening communication through the mail. The Sixth Circuit stated “[w]e find it difficult to imagine ... that the government’s interest in prosecuting the charge of sending a threatening letter through the mail could be considered a compelling justification to forcibly medicate Brandon.” Id. at 961; cf. Bee v. Greaves, 744 F.2d 1387, 1395 (10th Cir.1984) (questioning whether the state’s interest in trying suspects could ever outweigh a criminal defendant’s interest in avoiding forcible medication with antipsychotic drugs). Brandon also noted the maximum penalty the defendant faced for sending a threatening communication — five years imprisonment. 158 F.3d at 961.
Weston and Brandon teach us that the forcible administration of antipsychotic medication may be warranted when the government seeks to prosecute incontestably serious crimes, but not when it seeks to prosecute crimes less so. Cases involving crimes of intermediate severity may present vexing questions, but Dr. Sell’s case poses no such challenge. The crimes with which he has been charged are comparable to those in Brandon and thoroughly distinct from those in Weston. Dr. Sell is charged with making false representations in connection with the payment of health care services, 18 U.S.C. § 1035(a)(2), and money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a). The maximum penalty for these charges is five and ten years imprisonment, respectively. He cannot be put to death nor imprisoned for life if convicted of these crimes, as was the case in Weston. He is charged with crimes which are far less serious than the violent, heinous and deadly crimes with which Weston was charged. Indeed, they are nonviolent and purely economic. There is no identifiable victim for these types of crimes; rather, only society’s interest is harmed.
The majority deems the charges serious in part because of the number of counts Dr. Sell faces (63). At first blush, the sixty-two counts of fraud and the single count of money laundering might appear to make the charges seem more serious, but the sheer number is an inaccurate yardstick for measuring the severity of his alleged offenses. He will be sentenced under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which direct his sentence to be determined by the total dollar value of the fraud, not the number of counts. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S.S.G.) ch. 3 pt. D & §§ 5G1.2, 2B1.1, 2S1.1 (2001). An overly generous estimation of Dr. Sell’s alleged illegal activity would place the value of his fraud within the range of $400,000 to $1,000,000. Applying this estimate, his base offense level would be 20 and (assuming he has no prior criminal history) his sentencing range would be 33-41 months. See U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1. This sentencing range demonstrates the charges against him are not serious enough to justify forcible medication. Ante at 568 (“Not all charges, however, are sufficient to justify forcible medication of a defendant; rather, the charges must be serious”). In any event — setting aside the Guideline estimations altogether — Dr. Sell’s potential sentence is far more proportional to the maximum five year sentence in Brandon than to the maximum life-in-prison and death sentences in Weston.
The majority states Dr. Sell does not deny the severity of the fraud and money laundering charges. Ante at 568. This representation is wrenched from its context, however. While he does not deny the severity of these charges in the abstract, *574he certainly does not concede they are serious enough to warrant forced medication. In fact, Dr. Sell devotes most of his efforts to defending and minimizing the charges of conspiring to murder an FBI agent and witness, not to discussing the fraud and money laundering charges.
More telling still, neither the government nor the district court believe the fraud and money laundering charges alone support the forcible administration of medication. The government all but dismisses these counts when arguing about the severity of the charges against him. The government focuses its attention almost entirely on the charges related to the conspiracy to murder the FBI agent and witness. Neither in its brief, nor during oral argument, has the government claimed the fraud and money laundering charges by themselves are serious enough to warrant forced medication. Likewise, the district court acknowledged the conspiracy to commit murder charges tipped the balance in its conclusion that Dr. Sell’s alleged offenses were serious enough to warrant the forcible administration of antipsychotic drugs.
Although the majority properly omits the charges of conspiracy to commit murder from its analysis, ante at 568 n. 8, the majority inexplicably turns a blind eye to the apparent agreement of all parties that the fraud and money laundering charges alone are insufficiently serious to warrant forcible medication. This course of action is questioned.
This is not meant to suggest the crimes with which Dr. Sell has been charged should not be prosecuted. They will and should be. However, this defendant should not be forced to take antipsychotic drugs in order to be prosecuted for them. The government’s interest in forcibly medicating an accused murderer may be essential, but its interest in forcibly medicating an accused thief is not. In my view, these charges are not serious enough to warrant the forced medication of the defendant, who, we must not forget, is a non-dangerous pre-trial detainee cloaked with the presumption of innocence. As a result, the government has failed to satisfy the first part of the majority’s three-part test.
The government is not without recourse upon a finding that the charges against Dr. Sell are insufficiently serious to warrant forcible medication. He will not be set free. A civil commitment is in order for him until he becomes competent, or voluntarily agrees to take medication. See Riggins, 504 U.S. at 145 (Kennedy, J., concurring) (stating that if the State cannot render the defendant competent without involuntary medication, then it must resort to civil commitment). The government asserts that its interest in punishing crime will be diminished by the option of civil commitment. It is true Dr. Sell’s criminality will not be adjudicated as the civil commitment unfurls. However, the government’s interest in forcing him to stand trial on charges that may result in such limited punishment does not outweigh his substantial rights under the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. See Brandon, 158 F.3d at 956-61 (enumerating an individual’s rights in refusing antipsychotic medication).
I respectfully dissent.