Court Opinion

ID: 9447152
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 22:27:09.088343+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:54.706984
License: Public Domain

BASTIAN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
Appellant was indicted on September 24, 1956, for violation of the narcotics laws. On January 8, 1957, with able and experienced counsel of his own choosing, appellant appeared before the late Chief Judge Laws to plead guilty.1 Due to statements made to the court by his counsel, Chief Judge Laws directed that a medical examination be made by Dr. Thomas E. Griffin with regard to appellant’s competence to plead. Dr. Griffin was then, and is now, not only a well known psychiatrist but also Chief of the Legal Psychiatric Services, D. C. Department of Welfare, attached to the District Court, and in charge of the drug addict probationary program in the District of Columbia. In his report, made the same day, Dr. Griffin stated that it was his opinion that appellant was “well enough in control of his faculties to be able to understand the proceedings against him, to assist in his own defense, and to plead to the charges pending against him.” It is true that Dr. Griffin further stated in his report that appellant would “soon begin to suffer from symptoms of withdrawal from drugs and that these symptoms [would] reach their maximum in about 24 hours.”
*517Upon receipt of the report, the trial court made the following inquiries of appellant, who again was accompanied by his counsel:
“The Court. Mr. Coates, your counsel has explained to you what this is about, has he ?
“The Defendant. Yes, sir.
“The Court. And you are fully familiar with what you are pleading guilty to, is that right?
“The Defendant. Yes, sir.
“The Court. And the doctor has been over you today and he says that you have had some narcotics but that he thinks you know perfectly well what you are doing. You do?
“The Defendant. Yes, sir.
“The Court. You understand everything that is going on ?
“The Defendant. Yes, sir.
“The Court. And you are, therefore, pleading guilty to Count 9 which charges you with violation of the narcotic laws because you are guilty and for no other reason whatever ?
“The Defendant. Yes, sir.”
The plea of guilty was thereupon accepted and the matter referred to the probation officer of the court for pre-sentence investigation.2 After the report of that investigation, and on March 8, 1957, two months after his plea, appellant appeared for sentencing, at which time he was represented by counsel. There was no statement at this appearance, either by appellant or his counsel, relating to appellant’s mental capacity. Nor was any statement made that he was under the influence of narcotics or otherwise mentally incapable at the time of his plea. The following inquiries were made of appellant and his counsel at the time of the sentencing:
“Mr. Allder [appellant’s counsel]: * * * I know Your Honor has a full report from the Probation Office before you. This defendant stands before Your Honor after having entered a plea of guilty to one count of selling narcotics. He has a previous record. The only thing I can say to Your Honor is that my information of what happened in this particular instance is it was not a large thing. It was one sale only, one transaction. Even though there were other counts, they were describing the same act, violating the statute in a different manner and he was a user of narcotics at the time. I ask Your Honor to consider those things, his age and that he has been incarcerated now since January 8th, the day that he pled guilty before Your Honor.
“The Court: Would you like to say anything?
“The Defendant: No, Your Hon- or.
“The Court: As you know, there is a mandatory minimum in this case and, because of your record, I have no alternative but to give you a lengthy sentence. I will make the minimum as low as I can, taking into account you pleaded guilty and also the time you have been in jail. The sentence of the Court is from three to twelve years and a $100 fine.
“Mr. Stevas [Government’s attorney] : If Your Honor please, I believe there are other counts in this indictment that should be dismissed and I move to dismiss those at this time.
“The Court: Move (sic) to dismiss the remaining counts is granted.”
On October 30, 1958, more than a year and a half after sentencing, the motion *518under consideration, to vacate sentence, was filed. Insofar as the record shows, this was the first claim that appellant was incompetent to have his plea taken.
It seems clear to me that “the motion and files and the records of the case conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief.”3 Hence my dissent.

. Appellant bad been released on bond and had been out on bond from September 28, 1956, to the date of bis plea.

. Undoubtedly, as is the invariable practice of the Probation Officer, he interviewed appellant, who was then in jail and so unable to obtain narcotics. Also undoubtedly, the Probation Officer was well able to see and observe appellant’s condition, and would have reported any disposition on appellant’s part to change his mind as to his plea.

. The majority comment on the fact that Chief Judge Letts, who denied the motion to vacate sentence, may not have had before him the entire report of Dr. Griffin and the full transcript of the two hearings before Chief Judge Laws. Even assuming that to be the case, it can make no difference here. We do have these materials and they demonstrate, at least to my mind, the correctness of Chief Judge Letts’ ruling.