Court Opinion

ID: 9448540
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:38:51.354456+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:28.223386
License: Public Domain

EDGERTON, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I think the District Court erred in finding that appellee had no mental disease or defect and also in finding that appellant’s refusal to file a certificate was arbitrary. But, for other reasons, I agree with the District Court that there is no legal basis for appellee’s present confinement and that he should be discharged from the hospital unless with*862in ten days proceedings are brought to test his sanity. I would therefore affirm the court’s order.
1. Though appellant was found “not guilty by reason of insanity” he was not found to have been insane. As Judge Fahy said in Overholser v. Lynch: “There was no finding of insanity such as underlay the assumption on which Orencia v. Overholser, 82 U.S.App.D.C. 285, 163 F.2d 763, was decided by this court.” 109 U.S.App.D.C. 404, 413 note 6, 288 F.2d 388, 397 note 6 (dissenting opinion), certiorari granted, 366 U.S. 958, 81 S.Ct. 1936, 6 L.Ed.2d 1252. See O’Beirne v. Overholser, 109 U.S.App.D.C. 279, 287 F.2d 133.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1895 that “If the whole evidence, including that supplied by the presumption of sanity, does not exclude beyond reasonable doubt the hypothesis of insanity, of which some proof is adduced, the accused is entitled to an acquittal of the specific of-fence charged. His guilt cannot be said to have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt * * *." Davis v. United States, 160 U.S. 469, 488, 16 S.Ct. 353, 358, 40 L.Ed. 499. In other words, in order to be entitled to an acquittal by reason of the insanity question, the accused need not be found to have been insane. If, because of reasonable doubt as to his sanity, he is not found to have been sane, he must be acquitted. We have applied this rule many times. Blocker v. United States, 110 U.S.App.D.C. 41, 288 F.2d 853, and cases cited. The phrase “not guilty by reason of insanity” is used in •our courts in the sense of “not guilty by reason of the insanity question”, i. e., not guilty because sanity was not proved beyond reasonable doubt. Durham v. United States and Blocker v. United States illustrate this usage. In both those cases we said the jury should be told in substance: “Unless you believe beyond a reasonable doubt either that [the accused] was not suffering from a diseased or defective mental condition, or that the act was not the product of such abnormality, you must find the accused not guilty by reason of insanity.”1
2. The mandatory commitment requirement and the corresponding release requirements of the District of Columbia Code, read literally, apply only when the accused is found at the trial to have been insane at the time of the offense, and therefore do not apply in the present case. The Code provides that “If any person tried upon an indictment or information for an offense, or tried in the juvenile court of the District of Columbia for an offense, is acquitted solely on the ground that he was insane at the time of its commission, the court shall order such person to be confined in a hospital for the mentally ill.” 69 Stat. 610 (1955), D.C.Code § 24-301(d) (Supp. •VIII 1960), (emphasis added). Section 24-301 (e) requires, for the person’s release, a certificate by the superintendent of the hospital “(1) that such person has recovered his sanity, (2) that, in the opinion of the superintendent, such person will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others * * *.”2 Only one who was formerly insane can have “recovered his sanity”.
And the expression “will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others” seems to show that Congress was speaking only of persons who had committed dangerous offenses. O’Beirne had not committed a dangerous offense. Petty larceny, for which he was tried, is theft of property worth less than $100.3 The maximum term of *863imprisonment authorized by Congress for petty larceny is one year.4 This would hardly be appropriate for a “dangerous” offense. In this respect the present case is much like Overholser v. Lynch, supra, in which Judge Fahy, dissenting, said: “The offenses charged to appellee, the cashing of two ‘bad checks’ of $50 each, were not of a dangerous character within the meaning of section 301 (e). Therefore the release conditions of that section do not apply in appellee’s case and his continued restraint cannot be justified under the criteria of that section.” 109 U.S.App.D.C. at page 413, 288 F.2d at page 397.
3. It may be that the words “was insane” in § 24-301 (d) and the words “has recovered his sanity” in § 24-301 (e) should not be read literally. In Overholser v. Leach we did not read them literally, but held that in order to establish eligibility for release under § 24-301 (e) by a writ of habeas corpus, “There must be freedom from such abnormal mental condition as would make the individual dangerous to himself or the community in the reasonably foreseeable future.” 103 U.S.App.D.C. 289, 292, 257 F.2d 667, 670. Perhaps Congress would have chosen, if it had considered the matter, to make § 24-301 apply to persons who are acquitted only because there is reasonable doubt as to their sanity. But “There is no reason to suppose Congress intended that a person not accused of any dangerous offense and not found to be of unsound mind should be held indefinitely against his will in a mental institution * * Dissenting opinion of Judge Fahy in Overholser v. Lynch, supra, 109 U.S.App.D.C. at page 412, 288 F.2d at page 396. And if we are to interpret § 24-301 more broadly than its literal meaning, we should not go so far beyond its literal meaning as to raise serious constitutional doubts. If it be’assumed that a person who is found to have done a dangerous act, and also is found to have been insane, may constitutionally be committed to a mental hospital until he “has recovered his sanity and will not in the foreseeable future be dangerous to himself or others”, it does not follow that one who has not been found to have done a dangerous act and has not been found to have been insane may be restrained for a longer period than is reasonably required to determine in a civil proceeding whether there is reason to restrain him. Valid restraint of such a person for an indefinite period should depend “upon a finding, never yet made, that he is of unsound mind and not upon meeting the conditions for release applicable to persons committed under section 301(d).”5 If it be consistent with due process to treat appellee’s acquittal of petty larceny “by reason of insanity” as creating a temporary rebuttable presumption that he was insane and dangerous at the time of the offense, it does not follow that it is consistent with due process to confine him in a mental hospital for years or for life without any finding ever having been made, in any proceeding in any court, that he was insane.
4. Congress has made broad provisions for the civil commitment of insane persons in the District of Columbia. Either “the nearest relative or friend avail*864able”, or any one of various public officers, “may apply for * * * an order of commitment * * * for any alleged insane person in the District of Columbia, by filing in the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia a verified petition therefor, containing a statement of the facts upon which the allegation of insanity is based.” 53 Stat. 1293-1294 (1939), D.C.Code § 21-310 (1951). Proceedings may likewise be “instituted upon petition of the commissioners of the District of Columbia to determine the mental condition of alleged indigent insane persons and persons alleged to be insane, with homicidal or otherwise dangerous tendencies * * 33 Stat. 740 (1905), D.C.Code § 21-306 (1951). A Commission on Mental Health is directed to “examine alleged insane persons * * * and make reports and recommendations to the court as to the necessity of treatment, the commitment, and payment of the expense of maintenance and treatment of such insane persons.” 52 Stat. 625 (1938), as amended, D.C.Code § 21-308 (1951). Provision is made for a jury trial if demanded. “If the judge be satisfied that the alleged insane person is insane, or if a jury shall so find, the judge may commit the insane person as he in his discretion shall find to be for the best interests of the public and of the insane-, person.” 53 Stat. 1296 (1939), D.C.Code' § 21-315 (1951).
The word “insane” in these statutes is not limited to psychotics. Dr. Overholser informs us that persons in the following nonpsychotic categories, among others, may be civilly committed; “mental deficiency, psychoneurosis, personality disorder, and certain eases diagnosed as chronic brain syndrome with psycho-neurotic reaction”. (Emphasis added.) He also informs us that 7% of all District of Columbia resident admissions to St. Elizabeths in the fiscal year 1960 were diagnosed in one of the nonpsychotic groups, and that all these were involuntary civil commitments. Though it was not proved at appellee’s trial for petty larceny that he was either insane or dangerous, there is much evidence that he is now both. I think the facts now before us strongly suggest that his personality disorder, a “soeiopathic personality disturbance, antisocial type”, is serious enough to permit his commitment as insane in a civil proceeding.6 But wheth*865er or not he can be committed in a civil proceeding, without such a proceeding there is in my opinion no legal basis for his continued confinement.

. 94 U.S.App.D.C. 228, 241, 214 F.2d 862, 875, 45 A.L.R.2d 1430; 110 U.S.App.D.C. 41, 42, 288 F.2d 853, 854.

. This paragraph of the statute also provides that the court in its discretion may hold a hearing and “if the court finds that such person has recovered his sanity and will not in the reasonable future be dangerous to himself or others”, the court shall order his release. (Emphasis added.)

. Not 81,200, which would be grand larceny. 67 Stat. 99 (1953), as amended, D.C. Code §§ 22-2201, 22-2202 (Supp. VIII 1960).

. 50 Stat. 628 (1937), as amended, D.C. Code § 22-2202 (Supp. VIII 1960).

. Dissenting opinion of Judge Fahy in Overholser v. Lynch, supra, 109 U.S.App.D.C. at pages 413-414, 288 F.2d at pages 397-398.
“Since an accused is entitled to be acquitted on the ground of insanity although the evidence may merely have led the jury to entertain a reasonable doubt as to his sanity when the offense occurred, • * * due process may well require * * * that within a reasonable time, which will vary from case to case, continued confinement be made dependent upon civil commitment proceedings, with their greater procedural safeguards, and not left indefinitely to rest alone upon commitment under section 24L301 * Concurring opinion of Judge Fahy in Ragsdale v. Overholser, 108 U.S.App.D.C. 308, 315, 316, 281 F.2d 943, 950, 951.
Judge Bazolon has expressed the same view, concurring in the result in Overholser v. Russell, 108 U.S.App.D.C. 400, 404, 283 F.2d 195, 199.

. Dr. Cavanagh does not regard a sociopathic personality disturbance as a mental disease, and accordingly testified that he thought a person with a disturbance “of the type that this petitioner has” would not be subject to commitment in a civil proceeding. On the other hand, Dr. Owens shares the official opinion of St. Elizabeths Hospital that such a disturbance is a mental disease, and his testimony makes it highly probable that if he had been asked, he would have said he thinks O’Beirne is subject to commitment in a civil proceeding, although he does not hold that opinion regarding all persons to whom the diagnosis “soeiopathic personality disturbance, antisocial type” is applied. He distinguishes some such persons from others, as the following colloquy shows: “Q. A sociopath, Doctor, of an antisocial type, is he committable civEly? A. Well, I think this would depend on each individual case. The Court. But suppose you just have a diagnosis such as you have here, soeiopathic personality disturbance, antisocial type, is that in itself sufficient to warrant commitment in a civE procedure? The Witness. I do not think that it would be.” In short, the bare generic diagnosis, without more evidence, is not enough. But regarding O’Beirne, there is much more evidence than the bare diagnosis, and Dr. Owens expressed a definite opinion about him. He was asked, “do you think that Mr. O’Beirne’s condition is such as to warrant his confinement in John Howard Pavillion?” The “pavillion”, I understand, is a maximum security part of St. Elizabeths Hospital. Dr. Owens replied: “I most certainly do at this time. As I explained, the most recent episode [was] when he was permitting other patients for a fee, usually charged in vodka, to leave the hospital and turning other more seriously ill patients out because he had a key in his possession. I certainly think this man * * * requires security.” And if Dr. Klinger, Chief of St. Elizabeths “West Side Service”, had been called as a witness, he would have testified “substantially that the man is suffering from a soeiopathic personality disturbance, antisocial type, that it is a *865mental illness, and that he would be dangerous if released at the present time.” Cf. footnote 13 of the opinion of the court.