In re Snyder
| Decision Date | 27 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 117,167,117,167 |
| Citation | 422 P.3d 1152 |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF the Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by Clay SNYDER. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Mark J. Dinkel, public defender, argued the cause, and Ashley J. Long, assistant public defender, was with him on the briefs for petitioner.
Kristafer R. Ailslieger, deputy solicitor general, argued the cause, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, was with him on the brief for respondent.
In May 2013, the Saline County District Court first found Clay Robert Snyder not competent to stand trial because of his intellectual disability. Since then, Snyder has cycled through competency detainment and involuntary commitment at least twice. Most recently in November 2016, the district court found Snyder was still not competent to stand trial and ordered the State to initiate civil commitment proceedings against him.
Shortly thereafter, Snyder petitioned for habeas relief, asking us to release him from confinement and dismiss his criminal charges with prejudice to remedy federal speedy trial, due process, and equal protection violations. We find no violations on the present showing and deny Snyder's petition for habeas relief.
On December 27, 2012, Snyder was charged with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, and aggravated indecent liberties with a child in Saline County. A few days before the preliminary hearing was scheduled to occur, defense counsel filed a motion to determine Snyder's competency to stand trial. The district court granted the motion and ordered Snyder to undergo multiple competency evaluations.
Each evaluation yielded the same conclusion—that Snyder was incompetent to stand trial. The examining psychologists opined that Snyder suffers from a severe intellectual disability arising from microcephaly. They described Snyder as: "extremely impaired and in the lower end of the Mild Mental Retardation range"; "suffering from a Pervasive Developmental Disorder that is directly related to microcephaly"; and having short-term memory that is "significantly below average." On May 23, 2013, the district court found Snyder not competent to stand trial and ordered him committed to Larned State Hospital (Larned) for evaluation and treatment for a period not to exceed 90 days.
Because it is relevant to this factual summary, we pause now to address Snyder's motion under K.S.A. 60-409 for judicial notice of the nature of microcephaly. Snyder has recited medical facts about microcephaly and its attending disabilities. The State does not oppose the motion and does not contest the common definition of microcephaly as a medical condition in which a baby's head is smaller than normal, often present at birth and accompanied by lifelong intellectual disability. Further, the evidence in the record is clear that Snyder suffers from the condition of microcephaly and his intellectual disabilities all stem from this condition. None of the parties contest this evidence. As such, sufficient facts are before us in the record as to render Snyder's motion moot, and it is denied for that reason.
In August 2013, a Larned psychologist reported to the district court that Snyder was competent to stand trial. The record is unclear about what transpired next, but it appears the proceedings were delayed for a few months to accommodate a competency evaluation by a different psychologist. This psychologist concluded Snyder was not competent to stand trial.
On November 13, 2013, the court held an evidentiary hearing where the parties presented the psychologists' testimony and other medical evidence. On December 3, 2013, the court found Snyder was not yet competent to stand trial and ordered him committed to Larned for competency restoration for a period not to exceed six months.
In March 2014, Larned again reported that Snyder was competent to stand trial. This report precipitated more competency evaluations, which culminated in another evidentiary hearing on April 18, 2014. At the hearing, Snyder presented two psychologists who testified that he was not competent to stand trial and had a poor prognosis of becoming competent in the future. The State called no witnesses. A month later, the State conceded Snyder's incompetence and the district court found Snyder was not competent to stand trial.
At this point, the record becomes blurry. It appears the district court ordered the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) to commence involuntary commitment proceedings against Snyder in the fall of 2014, but the order is missing from the record. At oral argument, the parties clarified that sometime in 2014 Snyder was civilly committed under the Kansas Care and Treatment Act for Mentally Ill Persons, K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 59-2945 et seq., in Pawnee County. But the record does not reveal—and the parties could not recall at oral argument—the precise duration of this commitment.
As far as we can tell, Snyder remained confined at Larned, and the Saline County District Court held regular status hearings regarding his progress toward competency. During this time, a series of Larned reports indicated that Snyder's progress toward competency was minimal and slow. At the status hearings, Snyder consistently objected to continuances of the criminal case on the grounds that he suffered a speedy trial violation under Barker v. Wingo , 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed. 2d 101 (1972), and a due process violation under Jackson v. Indiana , 406 U.S. 715, 92 S.Ct. 1845, 32 L.Ed. 2d 435 (1972). The district court overruled each objection. In early June 2016, Snyder also moved to dismiss the charges with prejudice, again alleging constitutional violations under Barker and Jackson . The court subsequently denied the motion.
In the wake of these reports, the State again conceded that Snyder was not competent to stand trial. On November 23, 2016, the Saline County District Court found Snyder was not competent to stand trial with no substantial probability that he would attain competency in the foreseeable future. Consequently, as directed by Kansas statute, the court again ordered KDADS to commence involuntary commitment proceedings against Snyder. See K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 22-3303(1).
On February 2, 2017, Snyder filed the instant action directly with this court, seeking release from confinement and dismissal of the charges with prejudice based on federal due process, equal protection, and speedy trial violations. See K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 60-1501. Later that month, in tardy compliance with the Saline County District Court's November 23, 2016 order, KDADS filed a petition for determination of mental illness in Pawnee County, again alleging Snyder was a mentally ill person subject to involuntary commitment for care and treatment at Larned.
On March 21, 2017, the Pawnee County District Court held a bench trial, found Snyder was a mentally ill person subject to involuntary commitment for care and treatment, and ordered him to be civilly committed at Larned. Snyder's resulting civil commitment is the subject of a separate case, this day decided. See In re Care & Treatment of Snyder , ––– Kan. ––––, 422 P.3d 85, 2018 WL 3599273 (2018) (). Subsequently, this court entered an order staying Snyder's habeas case until Snyder was released from involuntary commitment and requiring the parties to submit periodic status updates.
On December 18, 2017, Snyder moved this court to lift the stay and schedule oral argument, claiming he was to be discharged from civil commitment at Larned. A few days later, we ordered the parties to show cause why the case should not be scheduled for oral argument. The parties indicated that Snyder remained in custody at Larned and a dispute had arisen in Pawnee County District Court about the status of Snyder's civil commitment. On January 2, 2018, the district court held a hearing to resolve the matter and took it under advisement.
On January 5, 2018, we entered an order lifting the stay and setting oral argument for January 26, 2018. After argument but while this case was pending, the Pawnee County District Court issued its ruling from the January 2, 2018, hearing. The court found that Snyder continues to qualify as a mentally ill person subject to involuntary commitment for care and treatment.
We exercise original jurisdiction in this action. Kan. Const. art. 3, § 3 ().
Snyder argues his lengthy detainment for competency restoration has violated his federal speedy trial rights under Barker and asks this court to dismiss his criminal charges with prejudice. In Barker , the Supreme Court set forth a four-factor balancing test to determine whether a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has been violated: "Length of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant." 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182. Assuming three factors—length of delay, assertion of the...
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