Wolf v. United States, 676-69.

• Decision Date: 02 October 1970
• Docket Number: No. 676-69.,676-69.
• Parties: Carl William WOLF, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

430 F.2d 443 (1970)

Carl William WOLF, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 676-69.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

August 28, 1970.

Rehearing Denied October 2, 1970.

Russ W. Bond, Denver, Colo., for appellant.

Nathan G. Graham, U. S. Atty., Tulsa, Okl. (Robert P. Santee, Asst. U. S. Atty., Tulsa, Okl., with him on the brief), for appellee.

Before LEWIS, Chief Judge, PICKETT, Senior Circuit Judge, and SETH, Circuit Judge.

PICKETT, Senior Circuit Judge.

On January 9, 1968 Wolf and a co-defendant were charged in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma with bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and (d). Wolf appeared for arraignment with his attorney and entered a plea of guilty. The probation officer's presentence report indicated that Wolf had a long history of mental instability, whereupon Wolf's counsel, prior to sentencing, requested a psychiatric examination "not for the purpose of determining his competency * * * but to be used by the Court in mitigation or in determining just exactly what kind of a sentence this man should have." Purporting to utilize the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 4208(b), the court ordered that Wolf be taken to the United States Medical Center at Springfield, Missouri for mental examination before sentencing. This is the procedure provided for in 18 U.S.C. § 4244. After receipt of the report from attending physicians, the court sentenced Wolf to a period of ten years' imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 4208(a) (2).

Upon the filing of this 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion alleging that at the time Wolf entered his plea he was mentally incompetent and his plea was therefore involuntary, the court ordered further psychiatric examination and report. Thereafter Wolf was accorded a full evidentiary hearing at which the only testimony was that of the chief psychiatrist from the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri where various examinations had been made. The psychiatrist testified that, in his opinion, Wolf was fully competent throughout all the proceedings. The motion was denied. Wolf here contends that the facts before the district court at the time of his sentencing disclosed information adequate to raise a "bona fide doubt" as to his competence to enter a plea, therefore requiring the court to hold a due process hearing on such issue prior to accepting the plea.

The test of mental competency at the time of trial or the entering of a plea in a criminal case is that the accused have "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding — and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him." Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 789, 4 L.Ed. 2d 824 (1960). Furthermore, where the evidence before the court raises a "bona fide doubt" as to the defendant's competency to stand trial or enter a plea, the court must conduct a due process hearing to determine the defendant's competency for such purposes. Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966). The presence of some degree of mental disorder in the defendant does not necessarily mean that he is incompetent to knowingly and voluntarily enter a plea as well as aid and assist in his own defense. Hall v. United States, 410 F.2d 653 (4th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 970, 90 S.Ct. 455, 24 L.Ed.2d 436; Wheeler v. United States, 404 F.2d 252 (8th Cir. 1968).

In addition to defense counsel's request that Wolf be given a mental examination prior to sentence, the court was confronted with a presentence report of its probation officer detailing hospitalization and treatment for mental disorders dating back to Wolf's discharge from the military services of the United States in 1947 for psychiatric disability. With this background the court recognized that there was reasonable cause to believe that Wolf might not be mentally able to aid and assist in his defense nor to understand the nature of the proceedings against him, and that further psychiatric examination was necessary before sentencing. Wolf was thereupon transferred to the Springfield, Missouri Medical Center for this purpose. Upon receipt of a report of the findings resulting from this examination a ten-year sentence was imposed under the provisions of 18 U.S.C....