Court Opinion

ID: 9429224
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:26:04.557931+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:17.980231
License: Public Domain

Justice White,
concurring in the judgment.
The “fairly supported by the record” standard of 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d)(8) applies only to underlying questions of background fact. Questions of law, and mixed questions of law and fact, such as the “ultimate question as to the constitutionality of . . . pretrial identification procedures,” Sumner v. Mata, 455 U. S. 591, 597 (1982), or the question whether a guilty plea is voluntary for purposes of the Constitution, Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U. S. 422, 431-432 (1983), may be reviewed more independently. In deciding such questions, “the federal court may give different weight to the facts as found by the state court and may reach a different conclusion in light of the legal standard.” Mata, 455 U. S., at 597. But only the “fact[s] that underlie th[e] ultimate conclusion” are governed by § 2254(d)(8). Ibid.
Our cases have treated the ultimate question whether a defendant is competent to stand trial as at least a mixed *119question of law and fact. Drope v. Missouri, 420 U. S. 162, 174-175, 175, n. 10 (1975); Pate v. Robinson, 383 U. S. 375, 385-386 (1966). See also White v. Estelle, 459 U. S. 1118 (1983) (Marshall, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). Our precedents notwithstanding, the Court today reverses the Court of Appeals on the strength of the conclusion that “the trial court’s conclusion as to Fulford’s competency was ‘fairly supported by the record.’” Ante, at 117. But since competency is not a purely factual question, § 2254(d)(8) and its “fairly supported” standard are inapplicable. The Court offers no explanation whatsoever for the failure to follow Drope and Pate, and it would certainly not be appropriate to overrule these cases summarily. If there is any doubt as to the proper classification of the competency question, we should grant certiorari and set this case for oral argument.
Since the Court opts in favor of summary action, however, I cast my vote accordingly. Absent plenary reconsideration of Drope and Pate, I cannot agree with the Court that competency is a question of historical fact and is to be treated as such by the courts of appeals in reviewing district court judgments in criminal cases or by the district courts in federal habeas corpus proceedings involving state-court convictions. However, I agree with the Court’s ultimate conclusion that the judgment of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.
The Court details the undisputed background facts that support the trial judge’s conclusion that there was insufficient question as to Fulford’s competence to warrant appointment of a competency commission: “Fulford’s conduct, both prior to and during trial; . . . the fact that Fulford’s alleged refusal to disclose his alibi witnesses either never occurred, or was remedied;. . . the unannounced, last-minute timing of the motion for appointment of a competency commission; and . . . the failure of the defense to pursue psychiatric examination beyond the ‘tentative’ stage, despite ample time and opportunity to do so.” Ante, at 117. Dr. McCray’s testimony, on the other hand, indicated that there was a genuine *120doubt as to Fulford’s competency, but, as the Court points out, ante, at 117-118, the trial court was under no obligation to credit this testimony, and it did not do so. Hence, even considering the ultimate competency question as a freely reviewable pure question of law, I conclude that the trial judge’s refusal to appoint a commission did not deprive Fulford of his federal constitutional rights, and I therefore concur in the judgment.