Lopez v. Stephens

• Citation: 783 F.3d 524
• Decision Date: 06 April 2015
• Docket Number: No. 14–70025.,14–70025.
• Parties: Daniel Lee LOPEZ, Petitioner–Appellant v. William STEPHENS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent–Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

783 F.3d 524

Daniel Lee LOPEZ, Petitioner–Appellant

v.William STEPHENS, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, Respondent–Appellee.

No. 14–70025.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 6, 2015.

David R. Dow, University of Houston Law Center, James Gregory Rytting, Hilder & Associates, P.C., Houston, TX, for Petitioner–Appellant.

Travis Golden Bragg, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas, Austin, TX, for Respondent–Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, JONES, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion

STEPHEN A. HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge:

Having carefully reviewed defense counsel's appeal of the district court's competency decision,¹ the State's response, the transcript of the competency hearing in the district court, and the district court's Order, we conclude that the district court committed no error finding Lopez competent to waive federal habeas review in this capital case, and that he did so knowingly and voluntarily.

The Supreme Court has elaborated the legal standard we apply to assess the competency of a death row inmate to abandon further appeals of his sentence, namely “whether he has capacity to appreciate his position and make a rational choice with respect to continuing or abandoning further litigation or on the other hand whether he is suffering from a mental disease, disorder, or defect which may substantially affect his capacity in the premises.” Rees v. Peyton, 384 U.S. at 314, 86 S.Ct. 1505. Applying this standard, we have observed that “a habeas court must conduct an inquiry into the defendant's mental capacity ... if the evidence raises a bona fide doubt as to his competency,” further noting that “[t]he extent and severity of the petitioner's history of mental health problems which have been brought to the court's attention influence the breadth and depth of the competency inquiry required.” Mata v. Johnson, 210 F.3d 324, 330 (5th Cir.2000).

The district court entered its finding of Lopez's mental competency under the Rees standard after questioning him directly in open court, observing his demeanor, reviewing past mental examinations, and hearing from court-appointed expert Dr. Timothy J. Proctor. We are satisfied that the inquiry conducted by the district court was constitutionally sufficient. In Mata, our court applied Rees, taking additional lesson from our court's caselaw as well as caselaw from other circuit courts to highlight examples of constitutionally adequate fact-finding into the competency of a petitioner to abandon collateral review in a capital case. We emphasized that whereas district courts retain discretion to fashion measures appropriate to each defendant—hence “in some cases an expert report already in the record may be sufficiently current that a new examination is not necessary, or a court may be able to decide the issue on documents without taking live testimony,” id. at 331 —the following measures were commended: (1) contemporaneous expert examination of a petitioner's competency; (2) expert assessment submitted in written report to the court and the parties; (3) an evidentiary hearing with full adversary opportunity to develop facts relevant to competency and to explore any expert opinion; and (4) a personal appearance by the petitioner, distinguished by a “face-to-face dialogue between the court and the petitioner” confirming the knowing and voluntary nature of the decision to waive further proceedings. Id. at 328–331.

The district court in the instant matter did all of the above to verify that Lopez, who had “unwavering[ly] conveyed his hope to end all legal challenges,” had done so in a constitutionally adequate manner: first, appointing counsel despite Lopez's repeated “coherent, logical, and consistent” filings against federal review; second, appointing a mental health expert who “compiled a detailed history of Lopez's mental health,” as well as conducted an in-person evaluation of Lopez concluding that “Lopez is competent to waive federal habeas review,” believing both in a “ ‘better’ ” afterlife and in the justifiability of his “ ‘conviction and sentence’ ”; third, conducting an evidentiary hearing that included Lopez as well as his expert mental health evaluator, Dr. Timothy J. Proctor, whereafter the court found “that Dr. Proctor was credible in his conclusion that Lopez is competent,” and also entered the following findings after direct questioning of Lopez:

Lopez clearly understands the nature of the criminal proceedings against him to this point, his current status, the role of the court, and the possible outcomes of federal habeas review. Lopez exhibited no obvious signs of mental impairment

or intellectual deficiency. Throughout his testimony, as throughout his post-judgment proceedings, Lopez was fixed and determined in his desire for the State to carry out his sentence. Lopez's testimony did not raise any concern about his competency.

We affirm that these proceedings, and the evidence presented to the district court, do not raise a bona fide doubt as to Lopez's competency.

On appeal, two arguments are asserted. First, the argument is offered that Lopez is incompetent to waive habeas review because he is wrong to think further judicial review would be unavailing. Specifically, counsel contends that Lopez's sight was impaired both by his poor vision and also by pepper spray, and therefore he did not intentionally kill Lieutenant Alexander when he swerved and struck him during a police chase. This argument fails on several grounds. Factually, the jury heard testimony and attorney argument relating to the fatal impact—and specifically, disputed facts as to Lopez's intentionality and vision—and,...