Glatz v. Kort
Citation | 807 F.2d 1514 |
Decision Date | 15 December 1986 |
Docket Number | 84-1745,Nos. 84-1744,s. 84-1744 |
Parties | James Edward GLATZ, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Dr. Haydee KORT, et al., Respondents-Appellees. Hugh Jan CORNELL, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Dr. Frank TRAYLOR, et al Respondents-Appellees. |
Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit) |
Vicki Mandell-King, Asst. Federal Public Defender (Michael G. Katz, Federal Public Defender, was also on brief), for petitioners-appellants.
Benjamin I. Sachs, Asst. Atty. Gen., Human Resources Section , for respondents-appellees.
Before HOLLOWAY, Chief Judge, SEYMOUR, Circuit Judge, and O'CONNOR, Chief District Judge. *
In Colorado the defense of insanity may only be raised by a specific plea entered orally by the court, by the defendant, or by his counsel. When such a plea is accepted the court must forthwith commit the defendant for a sanity examination. Sec. 16-8-105(1). Upon receiving the report of the sanity examination, the court must immediately set the case for trial on the issue raised by the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Under some conditions trial by jury of that issue may be waived. At such a trial if any evidence of insanity is introduced, the people have the burden of proving sanity beyond a reasonable doubt. 2 If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the defendant is automatically committed to the custody of the Colorado Department of Institutions until he is found eligible for release. Sec. 16-8-105.
The statute provides several ways of obtaining release. The court must order a release hearing upon motion of the insanity acquittee made after 180 days following the date of the initial commitment. Sec. 16-8-115(1). In addition, the court has the discretion to order a release hearing at any time on its own motion, on motion of the prosecuting attorney, or on motion of the defendant. Id. Finally, Sec. 16-8-116 provides for an expedited release procedure, which is applicable at any time the chief officer of the institution to which the insanity acquittee has been committed determines that the defendant meets the statutory test for release.
The release hearing is to the court or, on demand by the insanity acquittee, to a jury. If the release hearing is contested, the burden of submitting evidence and the ultimate burden of persuasion by a preponderance of the evidence is upon the party contesting the report and recommendation of the chief officer of the institution having custody of the insanity acquittee. Sec. 16-8-115(2). The named petitioners in the case here were not recommended for release by the respective chief officers and thus bore the burden of proof at their release hearings. At the release hearing, the court must appoint physicians, psychologists, and attorneys at State expense upon motion of the insanity acquittee and a showing that he is indigent. Sec. 16-8-119. The insanity acquittee is entitled to be present at the hearing, examine any reports, introduce evidence, summon witnesses, cross-examine witnesses, and make opening and closing remarks. Sec. 16-8-117. 3
Automatic commitment and the continuing inference of mental illness
The petitioners assert that automatic commitment after a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity deprives the insanity acquittee of his personal liberty without due process of law. The trial court, relying on Jones v. United States, 463 U.S. 354, 103 S.Ct. 3043, 77 L.Ed.2d 694 (1983), held that the automatic commitment procedures do not violate the Due Process Clause, noting the important governmental interests in treatment and the protection of society. The court dismissed the differences between the District of Columbia Code involved in Jones and the Colorado statute as constitutionally insignificant. 5
In Colorado, when a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity is accepted, the court must "forthwith commit the defendant for a sanity examination ...," Sec. 16-8-105(1), and the statute thus affords some initial protection to the defendant. Subsequently, a determination of not guilty by reason of insanity establishes two facts: (i) the defendant admits that he committed a criminal act, and (ii) he committed the criminal act because of mental illness and did not know the act was wrong. 6 Chavez, 629 P.2d at 1047 ( ); see also Jones, 463 U.S. at 363, 103 S.Ct. at 3049. The Colorado General Assembly has determined that these findings constitute an adequate basis for confining the insanity acquittee as a dangerous and mentally ill person. Chavez, 629 P.2d at 1048; see also Jones, 463 U.S. at 364, 103 S.Ct. at 3049. Moreover, the Supreme Court of Colorado has stated that the primary purpose of automatic commitment is The fact that a person admits and is found to have committed a criminal act is an indication of dangerousness. See Jones, 463 U.S. at 364, 103 S.Ct. at 3049. The Court concluded:
to give the State an opportunity to assess the insanity acquittee's mental status and to determine whether he will likely pose a danger to society or himself. Chavez, 629 P.2d at 1048
Nor can we say that it was unreasonable for Congress to determine that the insanity acquittal supports an inference of continuing mental illness. It comports with common sense to conclude that someone whose mental illness was sufficient to lead him to commit a criminal act is likely to remain ill and in need of treatment.
Id. at 366, 103 S.Ct. at 3050. We likewise cannot say the Colorado statute is constitutionally unreasonable in providing for automatic commitment of insanity acquittees.
The petitioners, however, argue that the inference of continuing mental illness which is the major premise to automatic commitment is weaker if not nonexistent in this case vis a vis Jones. Appellants' Brief 13. They argue that the insanity acquittee in Jones had to prove his insanity by a preponderance of the evidence, see 463 U.S. at 356, 103 S.Ct. at 3045, while in Colorado, "once any evidence of insanity is introduced, the people have the burden of proving sanity beyond a reasonable doubt." Sec. 16-8-105(2).
Jones, 463 U.S. at 366, 103 S.Ct. at 3050. We are persuaded by the reasoning of the trial court here that
[w]hile it may seem anomalous to confine a person to a mental hospital when there is only a reasonable doubt about his sanity, the justification for that confinement is strengthened by the fact that the defendant has admitted committing a criminal act through his voluntary plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. See Lynch v. Overholser, 369 U.S. 705, 82 S.Ct. 1063, 8 L.Ed.2d 211 (1962).
(II R. 282). We therefore conclude that a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity under the Colorado statute provides a sufficient foundation for the commitment of an insanity acquittee until satisfaction of the conditions for release provided by the State's procedures. Accord Benham v. Ledbetter, 785 F.2d 1480, 1489-91 (11th Cir.1986).
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