Grissom v. Wainwright, No. 73-3025.
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
| Writing for the Court | WISDOM and GOLDBERG, Circuit and LYNNE, Senior |
| Citation | 494 F.2d 30 |
| Parties | Ernest Lee GRISSOM, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, State of Florida, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Docket Number | No. 73-3025. |
| Decision Date | 20 May 1974 |
494 F.2d 30 (1974)
Ernest Lee GRISSOM, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections, Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, State of Florida, Respondent-Appellee.
No. 73-3025.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
May 20, 1974.
Phillip A. Hubbart, Public Defender, Bennett H. Brummer, Asst. Public Defender, Miami, Fla., for petitioner-appellant.
Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., Joel D. Rosenblatt, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, Fla., for respondent-appellee.
Before WISDOM and GOLDBERG, Circuit Judges and LYNNE, Senior District Judge.
LYNNE, Senior District Judge:
Ernest Lee Grissom petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for a writ of habeas corpus, contending that the state trial court had unconstitutionally deprived him of due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment when it failed to hold a hearing and render a determination on the issue of his competence to stand trial. The
Grissom, a 15-year-old junior high school student, was arrested on May 22, 1968, on informations charging him with second degree murder and aggravated assault, after he shot and killed a fellow student and wounded a teacher at his school. Upon the oral motion of the public defender, the trial court on December 9, 1968, ordered that he be committed to a state hospital for psychiatric examination and subsequently scheduled a sanity hearing to be held on February 25, 1969. At the hearing, Grissom called as his own witness a psychiatrist at the hospital who had examined him on three occasions. The psychiatrist testified that Grissom was adequately able to assist court-appointed counsel in his defense and to understand the charges against him. Following this testimony, Grissom moved for and was granted a continuance until March 27, 1969. Although there was some indication at the time that Grissom would later call another psychiatrist to testify on his behalf, he failed to do so, and indeed, produced no further evidence relevant to his competency to stand trial. On April 8, 1969, upon a second motion by the public defender, Grissom was again institutionalized for further examination. On October 21, 1969, he was tried before a six-person jury and found guilty of both charges. The Third Florida District Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction and twenty-year sentence on direct appeal, Grissom v. State, 237 So.2d 57 (Fla.App.2d 1970), and denied his subsequent application for habeas corpus relief. 259 So.2d 738 (Fla.App.2d 1972).
The federal district court below found that Grissom had produced no evidence rebutting the presumption supporting competency and failed to proffer any allegation of incompetency prior to or during the trial. The court therefore denied Grissom's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, from which this appeal has been taken.
The viability of Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed. 2d 815 (1966), and Bishop v. United States, 350 U.S. 961, 76 S.Ct. 440, 100 L.Ed. 835 (1956), is not questioned by the parties to this appeal. The prosecution or conviction of an accused while he is legally incompetent clearly constitutes a...
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People v. Harris
...5th Cir., 600 F.2d 1085, 1092, cert. denied 444 U.S. 983, 100 S.Ct. 487, 62 L.Ed.2d 410, supra; Grissom v. Wainwright, 5th Cir., 494 F.2d 30, 32; Jackson v. Caldwell, 5th Cir., 461 F.2d 682, 693-694, cert. denied 409 U.S. 991, 93 S.Ct. 334, 34 L.Ed.2d In brief, we find no merit in this clai......
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Davis v. State of Ala., No. 78-1165
...the 'substantial allegations' language of Lee, 386 F.2d at 97, the 'bona fide' doubt test of Pate and progeny e. g. Grissom v. Wainwright, 494 F.2d 30 (5th Cir. 1974); Jordan v. Wainwright, 457 F.2d 338 (5th Cir. 1972); or the 'real, substantial and legitimate doubt' standard of Bruce, 483 ......
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Thompson v. Johnson, No. Civ.A. H-97-1118.
...the competency issue [is] persuasive evidence that no Pate violation occurred." Reese, 600 F.2d at 1092 (citing Grissom v. Wainwright, 494 F.2d 30, 32 (5th Cir.1974); Jackson v. Caldwell, 461 F.2d 682, 693-94 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 991, 93 S.Ct. 334, 34 L.Ed.2d 257 (1972)). In t......
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Lokos v. Capps, No. 79-2771
...Carroll v. Beto, 421 F.2d 1065 (5th Cir. 1970). Unlike other instances in which relief has been denied, see, e. g., Grissom v. Wainright, 494 F.2d 30, 32 (5th Cir. 1974), in this case there were specific and repeated requests by counsel for a psychiatric We see the explanation for the error......
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People v. Harris
...5th Cir., 600 F.2d 1085, 1092, cert. denied 444 U.S. 983, 100 S.Ct. 487, 62 L.Ed.2d 410, supra; Grissom v. Wainwright, 5th Cir., 494 F.2d 30, 32; Jackson v. Caldwell, 5th Cir., 461 F.2d 682, 693-694, cert. denied 409 U.S. 991, 93 S.Ct. 334, 34 L.Ed.2d In brief, we find no merit in this clai......
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Davis v. State of Ala., No. 78-1165
...the 'substantial allegations' language of Lee, 386 F.2d at 97, the 'bona fide' doubt test of Pate and progeny e. g. Grissom v. Wainwright, 494 F.2d 30 (5th Cir. 1974); Jordan v. Wainwright, 457 F.2d 338 (5th Cir. 1972); or the 'real, substantial and legitimate doubt' standard of Bruce, 483 ......
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Thompson v. Johnson, No. Civ.A. H-97-1118.
...the competency issue [is] persuasive evidence that no Pate violation occurred." Reese, 600 F.2d at 1092 (citing Grissom v. Wainwright, 494 F.2d 30, 32 (5th Cir.1974); Jackson v. Caldwell, 461 F.2d 682, 693-94 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 991, 93 S.Ct. 334, 34 L.Ed.2d 257 (1972)). In t......
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Lokos v. Capps, No. 79-2771
...Carroll v. Beto, 421 F.2d 1065 (5th Cir. 1970). Unlike other instances in which relief has been denied, see, e. g., Grissom v. Wainright, 494 F.2d 30, 32 (5th Cir. 1974), in this case there were specific and repeated requests by counsel for a psychiatric We see the explanation for the error......