Ecker v. U.S.

• Citation: 575 F.3d 70
• Decision Date: 03 August 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-1509.,No. 08-1508.,08-1508.,08-1509.
• Parties: John Leonard ECKER, Plaintiff, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant, Appellant/Cross-Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit)

575 F.3d 70

John Leonard ECKER, Plaintiff, Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant, Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

No. 08-1508.

No. 08-1509.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard December 5, 2008.

Decided August 3, 2009.

Kirby A. Heller, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Michael J. Sullivan, United States Attorney, and Mary Elizabeth Carmody and Mark T. Quinlivan, Assistant United States Attorneys, were on brief, for appellant.

Neil T. Smith, by Appointment of the Court, with whom Joseph F. Savage, Jr., and Goodwin Proctor LLP were on brief, for appellee.

Before TORRUELLA, STAHL, and HOWARD, Circuit Judges.

STAHL, Circuit Judge.

In this appeal, we are required to resolve the fate of John L. Ecker, who was charged with a federal crime and detained in 1989 and subsequently civilly committed in 1993, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d). For twenty years he has remained held in a federal mental health facility and has never been tried or convicted of the charged crime. The only federal charge against him, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, was dismissed in 2006.

The Warden of the federal mental health facility where Ecker is currently housed has recommended that he be conditionally released. Based on this recommendation, the district court ordered that Ecker be conditionally released from federal custody and transferred to the custody of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for continued mental health care and treatment.

Notwithstanding the Warden's recommendation, the government has sought to maintain Ecker under federal custody, arguing that he remains a danger to the general public and that the Commonwealth has repeatedly refused to voluntarily accept the transfer of Ecker to its care. Therefore, the government asks us, inter alia, to remand the case to the district court for further deliberation under the federal civil commitment statute, 18 U.S.C. § 4246. In a cross-appeal, Ecker requests that this court reverse the district court and order his release outright, without conditions. We decline both requests and instead affirm the district court's careful and diligent disposition of this complex case and remand to the district court solely for clarification and updating of the terms of Ecker's conditional release.

I. Background

Over the course of Ecker's twenty years in the federal system, his case has been reviewed by multiple district and magistrate judges in Minnesota and Massachusetts, as well as the Eighth Circuit, and this court. See, e.g., United States v. Ecker, No. 3-93-298, 2001 WL 36044433 (D.Minn. July, 20, 2001); United States v. Ecker, 424 F.Supp.2d 267 (D.Mass.2006); United States v. Ecker, 489 F.Supp.2d 130 (D.Mass.2007); Ecker v. United States, 527 F.Supp.2d 199 (D.Mass.2007); Ecker v. United States, 538 F.Supp.2d 331 (D.Mass. 2008); United States v. Ecker, 30 F.3d 966 (8th Cir.1994); United States v. Ecker, 78 F.3d 726 (1st Cir.1996). Given this well-documented record, we will not relate in extensive detail the legal twists and turns this case has taken. For our purposes the important facts are as follows.

In 1989, Ecker was charged as a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922 and 924, and indicted in the District of Massachusetts where the charged crime was alleged to have occurred. However, due to his mental condition he was twice found incompetent to stand trial (in 1992 and again in 1993), and as a result, was temporarily committed to the custody of the Attorney General for hospitalization pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(d). In June 1993, Ecker was civilly committed under 18 U.S.C. § 4246, based on a court finding that he was mentally ill and dangerous. That civil commitment was entered in the District of Minnesota because at the time Ecker was held in the Federal Medical Center ("FMC") in Rochester, Minnesota.¹

In 2001, after twelve years of detention under the civil commitment statute, Ecker filed a motion in the District of Minnesota requesting that his competency to stand trial be reevaluated. In response, the District of Minnesota elected to transfer the civil commitment case to the District of Massachusetts for further evaluation. This order was based on equitable considerations including that Ecker was a Massachusetts resident; his family was located in Massachusetts and hoped to be involved in his care and legal proceedings; the criminal charge against him was pending in the District of Massachusetts; and Ecker was then confined at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts. The Minnesota court concluded that "unique circumstances not considered by Congress mandate that this Court relinquish jurisdiction over any ongoing competency proceedings in favor of the District of Massachusetts." Ecker, 2001 WL 36044433 at *1.

Following the transfer of the civil case to the District of Massachusetts, there were long periods of inaction in both the criminal and civil cases against Ecker. Meanwhile, Ecker remained in federal detention. In 2005, the District of Massachusetts reassigned the civil and criminal cases to Judge Gorton. Since then, the court has proactively sought to resolve this case in a safe and fair manner, holding frequent status conferences, appointing a guardian ad litem for Ecker, seeking written and oral input from the federal mental health professionals involved in Ecker's care, encouraging the federal government and the Commonwealth to resolve Ecker's fate through negotiations, and issuing a series of orders intended to move the parties toward a resolution.

In 2006, on Ecker's motion, the district court dismissed the criminal indictment against him because Ecker's "pretrial commitment for a term longer than the 15-year mandatory minimum sentence which he would be required to serve if convicted is unreasonable and therefore infringes upon his rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution." Ecker, 424 F.Supp.2d at 270. In other words, the indictment was dismissed because Ecker had already spent more than 15 years in federal detention, without a determination as to his guilt or innocence, which surpassed the mandatory minimum for the charged crime. The United States did not appeal the district court's dismissal of the indictment. Following the dismissal, the criminal docket was closed and Ecker remained in federal custody under the terms of his civil commitment. By that time, the Bureau of Prisons had moved Ecker from the FMC in Devens, Massachusetts to a new Federal Medical Center located in Springfield, Missouri ("FMSpringfield").

In April 2007, the district court considered a renewed motion by Ecker that he be transferred from federal custody to the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health for continued care. As Ecker noted in his motion, the federal civil commitment statute recognizes that care of the mentally ill has historically been the province of the states, and as a result requires the federal government to "exert all reasonable efforts to cause [the relevant] State to assume ... responsibility" for the custody, care, and treatment of the committed person. 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d). In considering Ecker's motion, the district court found that the federal government had failed to meet its obligation of exerting all reasonable efforts to transfer custody to the Commonwealth: "[T]he Court is distressed and dissatisfied by the lack of effort on the part of the Attorney General to cause the Commonwealth to assume responsibility for Ecker." Ecker, 489 F.Supp.2d at 136. As a result, the district court ordered the government to report back in six months identifying "all reasonable efforts exerted to cause the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to assume custody of Ecker." Id. at 137. The court specified that the government should pursue options outlined in the statute at 18 U.S.C. § 4247(i), including entering into a contractual relationship with the Commonwealth or a private agency for Ecker's care and making an affirmative application for Ecker's civil commitment under the Massachusetts mental health statute. Id. at 137-38.

In the same April 2007 order, the district court rejected the government's argument that the District of Massachusetts had no jurisdiction over Ecker's civil commitment case because venue was improper. Id. at 133-35. The government for the first time had argued that 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d) provided exclusive jurisdiction in the court in which the civil commitment order was initially entered, in this case the District of Minnesota. It bears importance to mention that though the original transfer took place in 2001, the government did not raise the issue of improper venue until 2006, after Judge Gorton ordered the dismissal of the indictment.

In October 2007, the Warden of FMC-Springfield, where Ecker was detained submitted a letter to the district court recommending Ecker for conditional release. This recommendation was based on Ecker's most recent Risk Assessment Report ("RAR"), completed by the FMC medical staff, a copy of which was attached to the Warden's letter. Based on this recommendation for conditional release, the district court issued an order in November 2007, requiring the Warden to submit a proposed plan for Ecker's conditional release. See Ecker, 527 F.Supp.2d at 204.

In January 2008, having received the Warden's proposed plan of conditional release, the district court issued its final substantive order in the case. See Ecker, 538 F.Supp.2d at 331. First, the court summarized the Warden's proposed plan as follows:

1. Ecker is to spend at least six months in the general population at MCFP Springfield.

2. Ecker is to be transferred to a facility operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health ("DMH"), most likely the Worcester State Hospital ("WSH").

3. During the time that he is housed at WSH, Ecker is to comply with certain specific conditions, including

a. voluntarily to continue his...