Ex parte Bush

Decision Date29 November 1945
Docket Number6 Div. 392.
Citation247 Ala. 351,24 So.2d 353
PartiesEx parte BUSH.
CourtAlabama Supreme Court

Rehearing Denied Jan. 24, 1946.

Beddow Ray & Jones, of Birmingham, for petitioner.

GARDNER Chief Justice.

Petitioner was indicted on July 24, 1945, for the offense of murder in the first degree and duly arraigned the following day. Upon arraignment he plead not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, and the date of his trial fixed for August 13 1945. After arraignment and on July 28, 1945 petitioner's present counsel were employed for his defense. On August 3, 1945, an unsworn petition was presented, seeking an inquisition concerning the alleged present unsoundness of mind of the defendant, Isaiah Bush. Title 15, Chapter 21, Art. 2, Code 1940. This petition disclosed that the defendant had served as a member of the armed forces and had been hospitalized both in Utah and Illinois, and from these places sent to his home in Alabama and that thereafter he was again hospitalized at Tuskegee, being treated in these institutions as a patient in the neuropsychiatric wards. Counsel state in their petition that he is of unsound mind and incapable of understanding the proceedings to be had against him. The trial judge denied this petition for inquisition, and petition for mandamus to this Court to require the setting aside of that order and a proceeding for inquisition was here presented.

In answer to the rule nisi, the trial judge states that there was no affidavit or evidence on the part of any disinterested persons that the defendant was of such unsound mind as to require inquisition proceedings in advance. The answer also discloses that the trial judge considered that the matters set up in the petition merely tended to show--given their full face value--that defendant's mental condition was such that he was not suited for military service; that there is no indication that his condition was such as to require confinement, but on the contrary that he was discharged after each treatment, thus indicating that any mental disorder was of a limited nature. The trial judge's answer also indicates that he had made some investigation and received some information concerning the defendant and his mental condition, in that it is averred in the answer as the court's understanding:

'Defendant since his discharge from the Army, has had all along full charge of his personal affairs with no guardian or other person...

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12 cases
  • Seibold v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • 16 Julio 1970
    ...v. State, 184 Ala. 5, 63 So. 975; Whitfield v. State, 236 Ala. 312, 182 So. 42; Burns v. State, 246 Ala. 135, 19 So.2d 450; Ex parte Bush, 247 Ala. 351, 24 So.2d 353. In at least two cases, Rohn v. State, 186 Ala. 5, 65 So. 42, and Whitfield v. State, supra, the exercise of discretion in th......
  • Lee v. State of Alabama
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 22 Agosto 1967
    ...with the trial judge, although no alternative procedure for determination of capacity is provided for by statute. Ex parte Bush, 1945, 247 Ala. 351, 24 So.2d 353; Sanders v. State, Ala.Ct.App.1964, 42 Ala.App. 419, 167 So.2d 174. Even still, on the facts of this case, I would hold that in l......
  • Thomas v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 18 Abril 1978
    ...Numerous cases have in the past supported this proposition. See Seibold v. State, 287 Ala. 549, 253 So.2d 302 (1970); Ex Parte Bush, 247 Ala. 351, 24 So.2d 353 (1945); Burns v. State, 246 Ala. 135, 19 So.2d 450 (1944); Whitfield v. State, 236 Ala. 312, 182 So. 42 (1938); Rohn v. State, 186 ......
  • Posey v. State, 3 Div. 957
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • 16 Enero 1979
    ...Numerous cases have in the past supported this proposition. See Seibold v. State, 287 Ala. 549, 253 So.2d 302 (1970); Ex Parte Bush, 247 Ala. 351, 24 So.2d 353 (1945); Burns v. State, 246 Ala. 135, 19 So.2d 450 (1944); Whitfield v. State, 236 Ala. 312, 182 So. 42 (1938); Rohn v. State, 186 ......
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