Bush v. McCollum, Civ. A. No. 3-63-451.
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit) |
| Citation | 231 F. Supp. 560 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 3-63-451. |
| Parties | James E. BUSH, Petitioner, v. Wayne McCOLLUM, Sheriff of Ellis County, Texas, Respondent. |
| Decision Date | 27 May 1964 |
231 F. Supp. 560
James E. BUSH, Petitioner,
v.
Wayne McCOLLUM, Sheriff of Ellis County, Texas, Respondent.
Civ. A. No. 3-63-451.
United States District Court N. D. Texas, Dallas Division.
May 27, 1964.
Billy J. Moore, Ennis, Tex., and Charles Alan Wright, Austin, Tex., for petitioner.
Sam R. Wilson, Asst. Atty. Gen. of Texas, Houston, Tex., and Bruce Allen, Dist. Atty., Ellis County, Waxahachie, Tex., for respondent.
HUGHES, District Judge.
In this case James E. Bush filed a petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas asking for his release from the custody of Wayne McCollum, Sheriff of Ellis County, Texas.
The legal question involved is whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires, in a criminal prosecution of an indigent defendant previously adjudicated insane, that the Court commit him to a mental hospital for examination or provide funds for employment of a psychiatrist or otherwise make available to the jury and to court appointed counsel for the defendant, evidence as to defendant's sanity.
The facts in the case were stipulated. Petitioner, James E. Bush, is a citizen of the United States and a resident of Ellis County, Texas. The respondent, Wayne McCollum, is the Sheriff of Ellis County, Texas.
Petitioner was arrested October 22, 1960 for a crime allegedly committed the previous day. He was indicted for felony theft on February 7, 1961, and on April 2, 1961 the Court appointed an attorney to represent him.
At the time of the alleged offense, petitioner was sixty-four years old and was indigent. Prior thereto on February 14, 1924 petitioner had been found of unsound mind by a jury and that judgment had never been vacated.
On April 21, 1961 the attorney for defendant, the present petitioner, filed two motions. The first requested the Court to send the defendant to a mental institution for diagnosis before being tried and the other requested the Court to appoint and pay for a competent psychiatrist's services to diagnose the defendant's mental condition. It was alleged in both motions that without an evaluation of his mental condition, he would be unable to adequately prepare his defense. Both motions were denied.
On the trial of the insanity issue the County Health Officer, a general practitioner without special training in mental illness, testified for the State that in his opinion the defendant was of sound mind. The examination of the County Health Officer was limited to questioning the defendant with reference to his name, birthplace, age, date of birth, name of the President of the United States, the Governor of Texas, past medical history, hallucinations, and simple mathematical questions.
A psychologist called by the defendant testified on the insanity trial that in a brief examination of the defendant that day, he was unable to determine whether the defendant was sane or insane. He testified further that the adequacy of any psychological examination would depend on the training of the examiner and the sufficiency of the examination, and that an adequate examination would require two to three hours, which would include talking to the person and giving him psychological tests. In his opinion an examination such as that given by the County Health Officer did not give an adequate indication of the person's mental state, other things being necessary to consider. No other evidence bearing
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed petitioner's conviction on January 3, 1962, 172 Tex.Cr.R. 54, 353 S.W.2d 855, and on February 14, 1962 denied rehearing, specifically rejecting petitioner's claim that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gave him the right to some form of psychiatric assistance.
On October 15, 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari to review petitioner's conviction, 371 U.S. 859, 83 S.Ct. 123, 9 L.Ed.2d 98. On February 23, 1963 the State of Texas filed a supplemental brief in the United States Supreme Court in which it put before the Court a report of Dr. Adolf Hug, a psychiatrist chosen by the State to examine petitioner. Dr. Hug's report stated that petitioner suffered from simple schizophrenia and that he "was only partly or not at all responsible for his acts, for very many years."
At the oral argument before the United States Supreme Court the Assistant Attorney General of the State of Texas stated that if the case was sent back to the Court of Criminal Appeals his personal position, speaking as Assistant Attorney General of Texas, was that Bush should be granted a new trial. On March 25, 1963 the United States Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded the case "for consideration in light of subsequent developments." The Court did not pass on the question of denial of due process declaring, "Appropriate federal-state relations and proper regard for state processes require that Texas' highest criminal court be afforded the opportunity to pass upon the case with these later developments before it." Bush v. Texas, 372 U.S. 586, 83 S.Ct. 922, 9 L.Ed.2d 958.
The mandate of the Supreme Court of the United States issued on April 19, 1963 and was received by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on April 23, 1963. On April 24, 1963 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals entered an order in which it took note of the action of the Supreme Court and further outlined the statutory manner whereby defendant's sanity may be judicially determined while an appeal is pending in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Court in its order stated that "final disposition of this appeal would await filing of further motions, briefs and certification as to `subsequent developments' referred to in the Supreme Court's opinion." Bush v. The State of Texas, Tex.Cr.App., 372 S.W.2d 683.
On July 22, 1963 a trial was held in the District Court of Ellis County on the issue of defendant's sanity at the time of the hearing and also on the date respectively of the alleged offense and of the main trial. The trial was purportedly held under the provisions of Sec. 3, Art. 932b, Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. Defendant made various motions to postpone, to protest the sanity hearing, to grant a new trial and for various findings by the Court. All were denied.
The record on the sanity hearing reflected that defendant was transferred to the Rusk State...
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GP, Matter of, No. C-83-5
...Watson v. Patterson, 358 F.2d 297 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 876, 87 S.Ct. 153, 17 L.Ed.2d 103 (1966); Bush v. McCullom, 231 F.Supp. 560 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir.1965); People v. Watson, 36 Ill.2d 228, 221 N.E.2d 645 (1966); State v. Second Jud. Dist. Ct., 85 Ne......
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State v. Carter, No. 63653
...691 (7th Cir.1965), aff'd in part and remanded on other grounds, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966); Bush v. McCollum, 231 F.Supp. 560 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir.1965). See also United States v. Stifel, 433 F.2d 431 (6th Cir.1970) (dictum), cert. denied, 401......
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United States v. Taylor, No. 13937.
...extraordinarily truncated as the one now before us. Examinations more extensive than this one have been disapproved. Bush v. McCollum, 231 F. Supp. 560, 563-564 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir. 1965) (40 minutes).344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir. However, it is not necessary to reach this......
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State v. Jenkins, No. 84-478
...evidence concerning the victim's cause of death); Hintz v. Beto (C.A.5, 1967), 379 F.2d 937; and Bush v. McCollum (N.D.Tex.1964), 231 F.Supp. 560, affirmed (C.A.5, 1965), 344 F.2d 672 (psychological evaluations of defendant where the sanity of the accused was an issue); United States v. Dur......
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GP, Matter of, No. C-83-5
...Watson v. Patterson, 358 F.2d 297 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 876, 87 S.Ct. 153, 17 L.Ed.2d 103 (1966); Bush v. McCullom, 231 F.Supp. 560 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir.1965); People v. Watson, 36 Ill.2d 228, 221 N.E.2d 645 (1966); State v. Second Jud. Dist. Ct., 85 Ne......
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State v. Carter, No. 63653
...691 (7th Cir.1965), aff'd in part and remanded on other grounds, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966); Bush v. McCollum, 231 F.Supp. 560 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir.1965). See also United States v. Stifel, 433 F.2d 431 (6th Cir.1970) (dictum), cert. denied, 401......
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Davis v. State of Ala., No. 78-1165
...would raise an important constitutional question. See, e. g., McCollum v. Bush, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir. 1965), Aff'g Bush v. McCollum, 231 F.Supp. 560 (N.D.Tex.1964). Indeed, we have recently suggested that a court must appoint a psychiatrist to aid the defense of an indigent whose sanity at......
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United States v. Taylor, No. 13937.
...extraordinarily truncated as the one now before us. Examinations more extensive than this one have been disapproved. Bush v. McCollum, 231 F. Supp. 560, 563-564 (N.D.Tex.1964), aff'd, 344 F.2d 672 (5th Cir. 1965) (40 minutes).series of decisions, notably, Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 7......