Court Opinion

ID: 9447030
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 22:23:32.576646+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:52.395808
License: Public Domain

BASTIAN, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I agree with the dissenting opinion of Judge MILLER, and think the following additional reasons indicate that the judgment of the District Court should be affirmed.
Even were it correct to treat appellant’s motion as one filed under § 2255— and for reasons set forth in Judge Miller’s opinion I do not think it should be so treated — the motion should be overruled.
The trial court held that the facts set forth in the motion were insufficient to warrant a finding that there might be probable cause to believe appellant had been mentally incompetent to stand trial, and also held that it was not required to entertain the motion because it was a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner. Section 2255 provides, in part, that “[t]he sentencing court shall not be required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner.”
In Morris v. United States, 1957, 101 U.S.App.D.C. 296, 297, 248 F.2d 618, 619, the court said:
“The appeal now before us is from the denial without hearing of a motion under Section 2255, Title 28, United States Code, filed February 8, 1957. It was the third such motion of the same import filed by Morris. No appeal was taken from the denials of the first two motions. The statute (Section 2255 of Title 28) provides that ‘The sentencing court shall not be required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner.’ Thus under the specific terms of the statute the court was not required to entertain the motion now before us. That disposes of the case.”
The court nevertheless reviewed the action of the trial court as that court had in fact considered the whole file in pass*937ing upon the last motion — in effect exercising its discretion in so doing.
In Turner v. United States, 1958, 103 U.S.App.D.C. 313, 258 F.2d 165, 167 [following Price v. Johnston, 1948, 334 U.S. 266, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 92 L.Ed. 1356], we stated:
“Absent some allegation or evidence as to what is the ‘justifiable reason’ or ‘unawareness,’ the District Court is under no duty to grant a hearing on what appear on the face of the petition to be old claims; indeed without such allegations the District Judge cannot even be aware of a possible basis for exercising his discretion to grant a hearing, applying the standards of Price v. Johnston * *
See also Plummer v. United States, 104 U.S.App.D.C. 211, 260 F.2d 729, decided by this court October 9, 1958, where we reaffirmed this principle.
Applying the above quoted statement from Turner to the facts in this case, I feel that the District Court was quite justified in holding that it was not required to entertain appellant’s motion.
That the trial court, in the present case, gave careful consideration to the motion, in order to determine whether to exercise his discretion, is evidenced by the opinion, wherein the court stated:
“The court is motivated [in denying the motion] by the obvious fact that the ground on which this motion is based is manifestly an afterthought. There was no suggestion at the trial by defense counsel, who was zealous and energetic in the protection of his client’s rights, or by the defendant’s mother or brother who testified in his behalf, or by the defendant himself, that he was mentally incompetent to understand the nature of the proceedings against him, or to assist in his defense. The interview that the Probation Officer had with him in the course of the presentence investigation did not disclose any mental abnormality or any inability to discuss his case intelligently. On the contrary, he seemed to understand his position fully, as he informed the Probation Officer that he did not take the stand in his own behalf at the trial because his lawyer said everything that was necessary in his behalf. To hold a hearing at this late date as to the mental competency of the defendant in January, 1956, — more than two years ago — would be a burdensome and entirely unnecessary proceeding, and indeed it might be difficult to produce evidence bearing on that question because of the remoteness of time.” D.C.D.C.1958, 160 F.Supp. 256, at page 260.
There is absolutely nothing in the February 25, 1958 motion to indicate that appellant was mentally incompetent to stand trial. He makes no such direct allegation.1 All that is alleged by appellant is that he was examined by a psychiatrist at the D. C. Reformatory and was; found to have an I.Q. of 53-Defective; that fact, however, does not constitute sufficient reason to believe that appellant was mentally incompetent to stand trial.2 Although it might be considered in connection with a determination of his mental incompetency, appellant’s I.Q., standing alone, would be insufficient to require a hearing, and no other facts *938are alleged in the motion. Many people having an I.Q. rating such as appellant claims are, nevertheless, legally responsible for their actions. An intolerable situation would exist if all persons with such an I.Q. could roam the streets, commit crimes and, by reason of their low intelligence, escape punishment.
Nor is there the slightest claim that the facts alleged in the petition were unknown to appellant at the time of his previous motion or that there was some justifiable reason why he was previously unable to assert his rights or was unaware of the significance of relevant facts.
Regardless of the reasoning of the several opinions reflecting the various views of those judges who favor a remand, the effect of remanding this case is to read out of § 2255 the words “the sentencing court shall not be required to entertain a second or successive motion for similar relief on behalf of the same prisoner,” and to overrule Morris, Turner and Plummer.
Two interesting articles, “Use And Abuse Of The Writ Of Habeas Corpus” by Chief Judge Louis E. Goodman (N.D.Cal., 9th Cir.) and “Limiting The Abuse Of Habeas Corpus” by the late Chief Judge John J. Parker (4th Cir.), may be found at 7 F.R.D. 313 and 8 F.R.D. 171, respectively. These articles indicate the extent to which the writ has been abused and the reasons why reasonable discretion in disposing of abusive petitions should not be whittled down.
I would affirm on the grounds (1) that the court is not required in any event, under the circumstances of this case, to entertain the motion; (2) that there are insufficient facts alleged to warrant a finding by the trial court that there might be probable cause to believe that appellant was mentally incompetent to stand trial; and (3) that, in fact, the trial judge carefully considered the motion and properly exercised his judicial discretion. Certainly it cannot be said that there was an abuse of discretion on the part of the District Judge. I agree with Chief Judge Goodman in his statement:
“In my opinion judicial discretion to appropriately deal with these abusive practices should be strengthened and not weakened.” 7 F.R.D. at page 316.
In remanding the case, we are weakening the hands of the District Court judges in dealing with the abuses under § 2255.
I am authorized to say that Judge MILLER concurs in this dissent.

. It is well settled that the moving party on a motion under § 2255 undertakes a heavy burden to overcome the regularity of a conviction. This is especially true when the attack comes a long time after the event. The motion must present detailed facts and not merely conclusions of law. United States v. Sturm, 7 Cir., 180 F.2d 413, certiorari denied, 1950, 339 U.S. 986, 70 S.Ct. 1008, 94 L.Ed. 1388.

. The Government tells us that “[a]etually there was no psychiatrist at the Reformatory during his incarceration. The test given him was the Army Beta test given to all inmates at the time of commitment in order to ascertain the type of duties to which a prisoner should be assigned. It was given by a psychologist and not a psychiatrist.”