Burt v. Uchtman

• Decision Date: 06 September 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1293.,04-1293.
• Citation: 422 F.3d 557
• Parties: Ronald E. BURT, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Alan M. UCHTMAN, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 557

422 F.3d 557

Ronald E. BURT, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Alan M. UCHTMAN, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 04-1293.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued July 6, 2005.

Decided September 6, 2005.

Raymond D. Pijon (argued), Chicago, IL, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Michael M. Glick (argued), Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, IL, for Respondent-Appellee.

Before COFFEY, RIPPLE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Ronald Burt was sentenced to death for the murders of H. Steven Roy and Kevin Muto. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment when the Governor of Illinois granted clemency to all death row inmates. Burt was tried before a jury, but near the end of the state's case-in-chief he abruptly changed his plea to guilty without any concessions from the government and against the strenuous advice of his attorneys. During the more than 14 months between his arrest and guilty plea, Burt was taking a number of powerful psychotropic medications prescribed for him by prison doctors. Burt was examined by a psychologist eight months before his trial began, and the doctor, while noting several psychological impairments, deemed him fit to stand trial. The psychologist, however, did not consult Burt's medication records and his report mentions only in passing that Burt was even on medication. Neither defense counsel nor the trial court ever requested a further evaluation to determine if Burt was competent at the time he pleaded guilty. Burt's direct appeal, state post-conviction petition, and petition for habeas corpus in the district court, 28 U.S.C. § 2254, were all unsuccessful. We granted Burt a certificate of appealability on two issues: (1) whether he was denied due process when the trial court failed to order a hearing into his fitness to plead guilty, and (2) whether he was denied effective assistance of counsel when his attorneys failed to request a renewed examination of his fitness. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the Illinois Supreme Court unreasonably applied clearly established federal law on both issues. Accordingly, we reverse the district court's denial of Burt's petition and remand with instructions to grant the writ of habeas corpus unless Illinois informs the district court within a reasonable time to be determined by the district court that it intends to retry Burt.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts of the offenses

These facts are taken from the Illinois Supreme Court's opinion resolving Burt's direct appeal. See People v. Burt, 168 Ill.2d 49, 212 Ill.Dec. 893, 658 N.E.2d 375 (1995) (Burt I). On January 16, 1992 police in Stephenson County were summoned to Roy's farm after a neighbor discovered that Roy and a farmhand, Muto, had been fatally shot. The following day officers arrested Burt, Dannie Booth, and David Craig for the murders of the two men. Burt initially claimed to know nothing about the murders, but he later offered to give a statement after the detectives investigating the case told him that Booth and Craig had both identified him as one of the assailants.

Burt eventually gave three statements to the police. In his first statement, he said that Booth, who was 14 years old at the time, had asked him and Craig to help collect $500 Roy owed him. Upon arriving at the farm, Booth went to argue with Roy while Burt and Craig waited in another room. While waiting, they searched the room and Burt found Roy's rifle in a closet. He was holding the rifle when Roy and Booth, still arguing, entered the room. Burt pointed the gun at Roy, demanded his wallet, and then ordered him to walk to a back room. Once in the back room, Burt said that Roy made a sudden movement. Burt claimed this movement made him fear that Roy might be trying to "pull something," and he shot Roy in the back of the head. Booth then grabbed the rifle and shot Roy several more times.

Burt, Craig, and Booth remained in the house and took some of Roy's belongings at which point Muto knocked on the back door. Burt answered the door and told him to leave; when Muto refused to leave, Booth forced him at gunpoint into a different back room and, after taking his wallet, shot Muto in the back of the head and in the back. Burt grabbed the gun and again shot Muto in the back. The three men then fled the farm with Roy's VCR, some meat from his refrigerator, and some of his personal checks.

The next day, Burt gave a second statement to the police. His second statement was very similar to the first except he added that, after shooting Roy, he and Craig discussed killing Booth because they feared he would report them to the police. A few days later, Burt gave a third statement. In this statement he denied shooting Muto and claimed that Booth was wholly responsible for that murder. Burt said that he had previously wanted to protect Booth because Booth was so young but that he changed his mind after learning that Booth was blaming him for the murders. The trial court suppressed the third statement as hearsay. Later, Booth and Craig each pleaded guilty to one count of murder and were sentenced, respectively, to 40 years' and 28 years' imprisonment.

B. Procedural history and psychological treatment

On January 31, 1992, two weeks after his admission to the Stephenson County Jail, Burt was seen by a Dr. Modir, who prescribed the antidepressant doxepin¹ (brand name Sinequan). Shortly thereafter Burt, Booth, and Craig were all indicted for two counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, home invasion, armed violence, and theft. After his indictment Burt was transferred to Stateville Penitentiary and continued to take Sinequan. In April 1992 Burt had his first of many appointments with Dr. Edward Navakas, a psychiatrist at Stateville. Dr. Navakas continued Burt's prescription for Sinequan and also added a new prescription for an anti-anxiety medication, diazepam² (brand name Valium). In May 1992 Dr. Navakas prescribed another antidepressant, imipramine³ (brand name Tofranil), and doubled Burt's dosage of Valium.

The Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit appointed two attorneys, Thomas Nettles and John Vogt, to represent Burt. Neither Nettles nor Vogt had any experience defending a capital case and each moved to withdraw. The court denied their motions. Nettles and Vogt then requested an examination to determine if Burt was competent to stand trial. In July 1992, approximately eight months before trial, Burt was examined by Dr. Donald Pearson, a psychologist. On the day of the evaluation prison officials refused to dispense his medications because, in Burt's words, they did not want him "doped up" for the examination. Dr Pearson opined that Burt was competent to stand trial despite suffering from antisocial personality disorder, substance abuse disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and "borderline" intelligence reflecting minor mental retardation. Dr. Pearson's report also noted that Burt was scared of imaginary snakes in his cell. Dr. Pearson mentioned that Burt reported taking Sinequan and Valium, but he made no further mention of Burt's medications and did not review Dr. Navakas's records.

Approximately two weeks after Burt was examined by Dr. Pearson, Dr. Navakas again changed Burt's medications when he discontinued Sinequan and increased the dosage of Tofranil. Three weeks later on August 18 Dr. Navakas prescribed a new anti-psychotic drug, thioridazine⁴ (brand name Mellaril), and maintained Tofranil and Valium. On August 28 Dr. Navakas increased the dosages of both Mellaril and Tofranil, while continuing Valium at its previous level. Dr. Navakas also made a notation that he was discontinuing Sinequan, even though Burt was not then taking that drug. From August 1992 until February 1993 Burt continued to see Dr. Navakas, who continued to prescribe Mellaril, Tofranil, and Valium. Dr. Navakas's notes for September 16, 1992 show a new prescription for Sinequan, but his notes for Burt's next appointment on December 11, 1992 make no mention of that drug.

In November 1992 Burt was examined by another psychologist, Dr. Linda Wetzel, in connection with a defense motion to suppress his confessions. Dr. Wetzel calculated Burt's IQ as 79, placing him in the 9th percentile for his age group, and she diagnosed him as having a brain impairment of the frontal cerebral lobe that had been exacerbated by numerous childhood head injuries. She wrote:

His memory deteriorates to a retarded level after a delay of only 30 minutes. His mental flexibility is severely impaired and motor speed is moderately to severely impaired. Language abilities are spared which allows him to appear brighter than his actual borderline intelligence level. He is further handicapped by his severe depression which interferes with his ability to concentrate.

Dr. Wetzel concluded that Burt's condition resulted in "poor impulse control, poor judgment, and inability to monitor and self-correct behavior."

Six weeks before trial on February 2, 1993 Burt told Dr. Navakas about a painful growth on the left side of his chest. Dr. Navakas determined that the growth was caused by the Mellaril, so he cut Burt's dosage in half, while maintaining him on the same doses of Tofranil and Valium.

Burt's trial began in mid-March 1993. During jury selection on March 19 Burt's attorneys requested a continuance. Nettles explained that Burt "does not feel he is able to continue to assist us in the selection of jurors today." He added that Burt was having difficulty sleeping and "feels that because of his inability to sleep and because of the medication that he would not be able to assist on today's date in selecting these jurors." The court denied a continuance but told Burt it would reconsider "if I detect you're having trouble staying awake."

On March 26, the fourth day of trial during the state's case-in-chief, Attorney Vogt announced that Burt wished to plead guilty. Vogt added that "we've spoken ... with our...