Johnson v. Norton, 00-2110

Citation249 F.3d 20
Decision Date05 February 2001
Docket NumberNo. 00-2110,00-2110
Parties(1st Cir. 2001) RONALD JOHNSON, Petitioner, Appellee, v. PAUL E. NORTON, SUPERINTENDENT, Respondent, Appellant. Heard
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit)

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Douglas P. Woodlock, U.S. District Judge]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] James J. Arguin, Assistant Attorney General, with whom Thomas F. Reilly, Attorney General, were on brief, for appellant.

Edward B. Gaffney, was on brief, for appellee.

Before Torruella, Chief Judge, Lipez, Circuit Judge, and Stearns,* District Judge.

TORRUELLA, Chief Judge.

Prior to his appearance on the first day of a criminal trial in Massachusetts state court, petitioner-appellee Ronald Johnson was struck on the head by a fellow inmate. The court denied Johnson's motion for a continuance and continued with jury selection. During a break in the proceedings, Johnson collapsed and the court suspended the trial so that Johnson could be treated. Johnson returned to trial on the second day and was convicted by a jury on the third. After exhausting his remedies in the state courts, Johnson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court alleging that the trial court's failure to hold a competency hearing sua sponte after he became ill violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The district court granted the writ, holding that the state court's denial of Johnson's motion for a new trial on the same grounds was an unreasonable application of Supreme Court precedent and was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. Johnson v. Norton, No. 99-11249 (D. Mass. July 7, 2000). This appeal followed. We affirm the decision of the district court.

BACKGROUND

On May 1, 1996, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts issued a seven-count criminal complaint charging Johnson with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon and various firearms charges. Johnson's trial was originally scheduled to commence on July 22, 1996, but he moved for a continuance to permit him to retain private counsel. After his motion was denied by the trial judge, Johnson filed an emergency petition for a continuance in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. A Single Justice of that court denied the petition, and the case was called for trial the next day, July 23, 1996.

A. Trial

On the first day of trial, Johnson's counsel informed the court that Johnson desired to make a statement. Johnson then acknowledged, "Yes, I would like to represent myself. And I'm not ready for trial today. I got knocked out this morning coming up from Middleton. I was assaulted by another inmate and knocked out. I mean, I don't really know what's going on." The judge informed Johnson that the trial would continue, and proceeded to engage in a colloquy with Johnson regarding his motion to seek new counsel. The judge informed Johnson that he had already denied that motion the previous day, and moved on to Johnson's request to subpoena a witness and obtain a copy of the police report. Following this exchange, the judge entered into a discussion with Johnson's counsel concerning various matters, including the charge for possessing a handgun. Johnson participated in this discussion, asking the trial judge whether the gun had been found and, when the judge revealed that it had not, how he could have been charged with the crime. The judge explained that the charge could be proven by witness statements, and Johnson raised no further objection.

The trial then moved to jury selection. After the jury was empaneled and sworn, the judge declared a recess. When the session resumed, the judge told counsel that the court officer had received a report from the nurse indicating that "the back of [Johnson's] head is blown up and that's she recommending [sic] that he be hospitalized." The nurse entered the courtroom and reported that Johnson "passed out twice and he's vomiting and he's a little shaky and he doesn't remember, he said he passed out this morning." She suggested that Johnson might have a concussion and should be "checked out."

The court suspended proceedings for the day, but continued to discuss with counsel matters relating to scheduling and witnesses. In the course of this discussion, the court was informed that two jurors might have known one of the victims. The judge asked defense counsel whether he would waive his client's presence during the discussion of this issue. Defense counsel responded that, "due to the fact that [Johnson had] taken ill," he would waive his client's presence. Following an unrecorded sidebar discussion, the judge informed the jury that Johnson had "become ill" and that, as a result, the trial would be postponed until the next morning.

Johnson was present in the courtroom the following morning. Following a discussion of preliminary matters, defense counsel moved for a mistrial, stating that he had been talking to his client earlier and that "there [were] some serious questions here of his mental capacity to assist . . . himself in the conduct of this trial [and that] there's a question as to his competency and mental capacity." The judge denied the motion, stating that the court officer whom he had directed to call the nurse at the detention facility had already informed him that Johnson was "medically cleared" to appear in the courtroom. The trial proceeded for the remainder of the day. After the defense rested and the jury was dismissed, the judge made the following address to counsel:

In light of the issue that was raised this morning, I'm now having witnessed the entire day's proceedings [sic], I just want to make some findings for the record, in light of the statement this morning that Mr. Johnson was not competent to continue with the trial today because of his injury. I just want to state for the record that Mr. Johnson has been extremely alert all day. He has been writing notes to his counsel. He has been extremely involved and focused on the trial. Raising questions, asking his Counsel both verbally and in writing to ask certain questions. Raising his hand on numerous occasions which I have no problem with. I commend him for doing it and I think he's done an excellent job. But there's no question in my mind as a matter of fact that the Defendant has been quite able to assist his lawyer in conducting the trial here today and in fact on more than numerous occasions, directed his lawyer to ask certain questions, both in writing and verbally.

On the third day of trial, the jury returned a verdict against Johnson. Before sentencing, Johnson asked to address the court. In his remarks, Johnson alleged that he did not have a fair trial because two of the jurors may have known one of the victims. The judge responded that he had inquired into the matter and that both jurors had indicated that they would not be influenced by any prior knowledge. The court sentenced Johnson to two and a half years on the assault and battery with a dangerous weapons charge and two and a half years for the firearms charge, to be served consecutively. The court gave a suspended sentence of ten years for the assault by means of a dangerous weapons charge, and the remaining convictions were entered and placed on file.

B. Motion for a New Trial

On March 19, 1997, Johnson, represented by new counsel, filed a motion for a new trial, alleging, inter alia, that trial counsel had improperly waived his right to be present at jury selection and that he "never agreed to let the trial continue after he was taken back [to the detention facility] after vomiting and fainting on the day the jury was selected." Johnson further alleged that, since much of the jury selection process was conducted at sidebar while he remained at the defense table, he was "de facto" excluded from participating at all. Johnson submitted an affidavit in support of his motion, claiming that he was not content with the jury selected and that his trial counsel did not explain that he could keep certain persons off the jury. Johnson's trial counsel also submitted an affidavit, stating that Johnson had not been competent to assist in the jury selection process, and that Johnson's understanding of the jury selection process was "imperfect." The trial counsel added that "[d]uring that time, [he] was unable to communicate effectively with [Johnson]" and, as a result, Johnson "was unable to understand or participate, at all, in the jury selection process."

On May 13, 1997, the same judge who presided at trial held a hearing on Johnson's new trial motion. On the issue of Johnson's participation during jury selection, the judge stated that he "specifically" remembered seeing Johnson "confer with his lawyer . . . during the jury selection." Though it was not explicitly stated as a basis for the motion for a new trial, the issue of Johnson's competency arose from counsel's response to the judge's statement: he indicated that despite the judge's observations, trial counsel had been unable to communicate with Johnson and that Johnson had passed out twice during the break following jury selection.

The trial judge denied Johnson's motion for a new trial based, inter alia, on the court's "specific recollection of discussions between defense counsel and [Johnson] concerning the composition of the jury during the selection process." Commonwealth v. Johnson, No. 9560-CR-1269 at 4 (Mass. Dist. Ct. June 19, 1997). The judge further noted that Johnson "was in the courtroom at all times during selection of the jury and counsel and did continuously engage in discussion with [his lawyer] during the process." Id. With regard to trial counsel's affidavit that Johnson was not competent to assist in jury selection, the judge held that the statement "was not really competent evidence as to [Johnson's ability] to assist [counsel] during the...

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13 cases
  • United States v. Maryea
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • January 15, 2013
    ...hold a competency hearing sua sponte whenever evidence raises a sufficient doubt as to the competence of the accused.” Johnson v. Norton, 249 F.3d 20, 26 (1st Cir.2001). Factors to consider in guiding a district judge's inquiry into whether an evidentiary hearing as to competence is warrant......
  • United States v. Brown
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit
    • January 19, 2012
    ...with, it is well settled that the conviction of a person legally incompetent to stand trial violates due process. See Johnson v. Norton, 249 F.3d 20, 26 (1st Cir.2001) (citing Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 378, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966)). To challenge the district court's findin......
  • U.S. v. Quintieri
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit
    • October 9, 2002
    ...defendant "set forth his various irrational, paranoid beliefs," rambled in court, and exhibited bizarre behavior); Johnson v. Norton, 249 F.3d 20, 22-24, 27-28 (1st Cir.2001) (reversing for failure to hold a competency hearing when the defendant passed out three times on the day of trial af......
  • Dias v. Maloney
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts
    • August 2, 2001
    ...2254(d)(1) in Terry Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 146 L.Ed.2d 389 (2000) (5-4 decision). See Johnson v. Norton, 249 F.3d 20, 25-29 (1st Cir.2001) (applying Terry Williams to petition challenging competence to stand trial); Hurtado v. 245 F.3d 7 (1st Cir.2001) (sufficienc......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Review Proceedings
    • United States
    • Georgetown Law Journal No. 110-Annual Review, August 2022
    • August 1, 2022
    ...process violated by defendant’s conviction without proving each element of crime beyond reasonable doubt); see, e.g. , Johnson v. Norton, 249 F.3d 20, 28-29 (1st Cir. 2001) (due process violated by denial of competency hearing and resuming trial after defendant collapsed during hearing); Ga......

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