U.S. v. Rinchack

Decision Date14 July 1987
Docket NumberNo. 86-3270,86-3270
Citation820 F.2d 1557
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Louis RINCHACK, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Mary Catherine Bonner, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for defendant-appellant.

Robert Merkle, U.S. Atty., Karla Spaulding, Michael A. Cauley, Asst. U.S. Attys., Tampa, Fla., John F. De Pue, Dept. of Justice, Crim. Div., Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before JOHNSON and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction in a drug case. Following an indictment and jury trial, appellant Louis Rinchack was convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana, importation of marijuana, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He argues on appeal that: 1) the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to appoint a psychiatric expert at government expense to assist him at a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial; 2) the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to procure at government expense the attendance of three witnesses for the defense; 3) his due process rights were violated because he was tried while he was suffering from amnesia; and 4) the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to grant his motion for a continuance. We reject all of the appellant's contentions and affirm his conviction.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

On the night of September 12, 1980, a Florida Highway Patrolman in Punta Gorda, Florida, observed a light aircraft attempting to land outside of Punta Gorda in an area frequently used by small planes involved in drug-smuggling operations. Suspicious that the airplane might be smuggling drugs into the country, the patrolman radioed a report to the county sheriff's department. Upon dispatching deputies to the airport to investigate, the sheriff's department found a Cessna Skymaster containing twenty-nine bales of marijuana. An inspection of the airplane revealed that the rear seats had been removed from the plane to make room for the marijuana.

The sheriff's department traced the Cessna to a man named Edward Gasper. A check of registrations at area motels established that Gasper had recently checked into the local Holiday Inn. While the police were at the Holiday Inn attempting to locate Gasper, they observed appellant Louis Rinchack and two of Rinchack's codefendants, Steven Backner and David Burlingame, at the front desk attempting to check into the motel. The police followed the trio as they climbed into a pickup truck with a camper shell and left the Holiday Inn. After following the truck for a short distance, the police pulled it over to the side of the road. Upon approaching the truck to question its occupants, the police spotted two partially concealed aircraft seats in the back of the truck inside the camper shell. The seats later proved to be the same type of seats as the ones removed from the Cessna Skymaster.

The police arrested Rinchack, Burlingame and Backner. A post-arrest search of Rinchack's person yielded a piece of paper bearing Gasper's room number. The police then went to Gasper's room at the Holiday Inn and arrested Gasper and the two other men in the room with him, George Moran and Paul Murphy. A search of Gasper's motel room turned up a flight plan to Kingston, Jamaica. A post-arrest search of Gasper himself produced the keys to the Cessna. Other evidence produced after a full investigation established that Rinchack had placed several phone calls to a well-known drug smuggler in Jamaica named Bryan Phillips and that the Cessna's September 12 flight had originated in Jamaica. The government also established that Gasper placed a call from the Holiday Inn to Rinchack's residence on the evening of September 12. In addition, Claude Nardy, one of Rinchack's associates, testified that Rinchack told him that he had driven to Punta Gorda to unload a plane of marijuana, but that he had been arrested when he arrived.

The State of Florida prosecuted Rinchack and six other individuals under its state criminal laws. 1 The case was dismissed after the trial court suppressed most of the state's evidence as illegally seized. As a result of the dismissal from state court, the federal government decided to prosecute the case under federal law.

In the meantime, on September 28, 1983, three years after the evening of September 12, 1980, Rinchack was struck on the head by a steel cable while working on a vessel in the Pacific Ocean. He was rendered unconscious for a day and a half and was hospitalized for treatment and observation. Following the accident, Rinchack complained of recurring dizziness and amnesia and remained under the care of various doctors during the years following the accident.

On February 2, 1985, approximately two years after Rinchack's accident, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Rinchack and the other six individuals alleging violations of 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 2 and 21 U.S.C.A. Secs. 951, 963, 841(a)(1) and 846. Gasper, Moran and Murphy entered guilty pleas, Burlingame and Backner were tried in separate trials and acquitted, and a warrant is still outstanding for Phillips.

On May 9, 1985, Rinchack filed a motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4241(a) for a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial. 2 He claimed that he was incompetent to stand trial due to the September 1983 accident, which left him with memory loss, damage to his cerebellum and brain stem, vertigo, dizziness and seizures. The motion was supported by the affidavit of Dr. Roger Schnell, M.D. Schnell's affidavit stated that Rinchack had suffered serious permanent neurological injury from his September 1983 accident and that the injury impaired his coordination and movement.

The district court granted Rinchack's motion and issued an order pursuant to Section 4241(b) requiring Rinchack to submit to a psychiatric examination to determine his competency to stand trial. 3 With the court's approval, the parties jointly selected Dr. Albert Jaslow, Ph.D., to conduct the examination. Although the record is unclear, it appears that Rinchack agreed to waive a Section 4241(a) hearing and abide by the result of Dr. Jaslow's examination.

Dr. Jaslow filed a report on May 15, 1985. The report concluded that Rinchack was incompetent to stand trial, noting that Rinchack appeared to suffer from memory loss, confusion, blackouts and catatonic episodes as a result of the accident. The report also noted that Rinchack "display[ed] defects that would suggest organic brain involvement, and ... these would undoubtedly interfere with his clarity of thought, and would make it difficult for him to properly assist ... in his own defense when it would be necessary to recall things, [and] associate them properly with time and occurrences."

Based upon Jaslow's report, the district court committed Rinchack to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Illinois, for treatment and observation pursuant to 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4241(d). 4 Rinchack entered the Springfield facility on August 21, 1985, and remained there for approximately three and a half months.

On November 22, 1985, a committee composed of two psychiatrists and the warden of the Springfield facility informed the district court that Rinchack was mentally competent to stand trial. The committee also forwarded a "Final Psychiatric Evaluation" to the court. The report was comprised of a cover letter from the examining committee, a report from Dr. Fred Wilson, a psychologist and neurologist who supervised the committee which examined Rinchack, and a report from Dr. Daniel Taub, a clinical psychologist. The psychiatric evaluation concluded that Rinchack's claimed memory loss was inconsistent with various aspects of his behavior and that his neurological tests showed normal functioning.

Rinchack filed a motion for release from Springfield and requested a competency hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 4241(e). 5 On December 4, 1985, the district court granted the request for a hearing and issued an order transferring Rinchack from Springfield to Tampa. A competency hearing was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on December 30, 1985, before Magistrate Wilson. Thirty minutes before the competency hearing was scheduled to commence, Rinchack's attorney filed a written motion for the appointment of a psychiatrist at government expense to assist him in preparing for the competency hearing. Not surprisingly, given the last-minute filing, the district court did not rule on the motion prior to the hearing. Rinchack's attorney renewed the Section 3006A(e) motion twice during the hearing, once as the hearing commenced and once at the close of the government's evidence, specifically requesting the assistance of Dr. Jaslow both times. 6 The magistrate denied the requests and proceeded with the hearing.

The sole witness at the competency hearing was Dr. Fred Wilson, the supervisor of the medical team which examined Rinchack at Springfield. Dr. Wilson testified that Rinchack did not appear to be suffering from "a true organic type amnesia" and that he was "able to remember a good deal more than he ... claimed he could." He testified that his conclusion was based upon Rinchack's spontaneous recollections of early family life, his ability to recall detailed financial matters concerning his mortgage on his home and various engineering design concepts, and the absence of any physiological evidence of neurological problems or organic brain damage. Dr. Wilson also testified that in his opinion Rinchack had a factual understanding of the legal proceedings and was capable of assisting in his own defense. In addition to Dr. Wilson's testimony and the Springfield report, the magistrate had Dr. Jaslow's initial report, Dr....

To continue reading

Request your trial
85 cases
  • People v. Palmer
    • United States
    • Colorado Supreme Court
    • September 10, 2001
    ...572 F.2d 523, 526-27 (5th Cir.1978); see also United States v. Villegas, 899 F.2d 1324, 1341 (2d Cir.1989); United States v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1569 (11th Cir.1987); United States v. Stubblefield, 325 F.Supp. 485, 486 (E.D.Tenn.1971). These factors also provide substantial guidance to......
  • Bolender v. Singletary
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit
    • March 11, 1994
    ...of a subpoena. Moreover his petition was untimely, coming as it did after the state had rested its case. Cf. United States v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1568 (11th Cir.1987) (holding that "a district court may refuse to issue a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum solely on the grounds that......
  • U.S. v. Villegas
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • March 27, 1990
    ...will be of assistance in preparing the defense, and whether the government's case is strong or weak. See, e.g., United States v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1569 (11th Cir.1987); United States v. Swanson, 572 F.2d 523, 526-27 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 849, 99 S.Ct. 152, 58 L.Ed.2d 152......
  • State v. Gilbert
    • United States
    • Connecticut Supreme Court
    • March 18, 1994
    ...or defect, can never render an accused incompetent to stand trial. Wilson v. United States, supra, at 463; see United States v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1564 (11th Cir.1987). Rather, the court held that due process requires a pretrial hearing, and in the event that a trial is held, a posttr......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • Trials
    • United States
    • Georgetown Law Journal No. 110-Annual Review, August 2022
    • August 1, 2022
    ...not authorize payment for additional legal staff without showing of how it would benef‌it defendant’s representation); U.S. v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1564-65 (11th Cir. 1983) (18 U.S.C. § 3006A does not authorize payment for additional psychiatric expert when defendant already had suff‌ic......
  • Emotional competence, "rational understanding," and the criminal defendant.
    • United States
    • American Criminal Law Review Vol. 43 No. 4, September 2006
    • September 22, 2006
    ...at 135-80. These phenomena also may be highly relevant to an adjudicative competence determination. See, e.g., United States v. Rinchack, 820 F.2d 1557, 1569 (11th Cir. 1987) (discussing standards by which to evaluate defendant's amnesia); United States v. Borum, 464 F.2d 896, 900 (10th Cir......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT