Court Opinion

ID: 9545773
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:19:28.009173+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:15:32.354317
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Justice
(dissenting):
Having reviewed the transcript of defendant’s testimony taken April 2, 1985, not previously a part of the record before this Court, I am persuaded that the petition for rehearing should be granted for a review of the question of defendant’s competence to stand trial. I am also convinced that our original opinion may have been in error on the issue of defendant’s knowing and voluntary waiver of the right to assert a defense based on insanity or diminished capacity, and would also grant rehearing on that question.
Defendant’s behavior and responses to questions in court on April 2, after his suicide attempt, contrast dramatically with *632his self-presentation during the period before the damage. The contrast, is so marked that my view of the import of the expert testimony about his competence is changed significantly. Likewise, I believe it to be highly possible that defendant’s capacity to understand the complexity of the insanity/diminished capacity defense problem was seriously compromised at the time of the hearings on April 9, 1985 (by telephone), and April 24, 1985. I would therefore grant rehearing to review both the competence and waiver questions.