Keever v. Bainter

• Decision Date: 09 April 1971
• Docket Number: No. 54348,54348
• Citation: 186 N.W.2d 133
• Parties: Margaret Ann KEEVER, Petitioner, v. The Honorable Harlan W. BAINTER, Judge of the First Judicial District of Iowain and for Des Moines County, Respondent.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 133

186 N.W.2d 133

Margaret Ann KEEVER, Petitioner, v. The Honorable Harlan W. BAINTER, Judge of the First Judicial District of Iowain and for Des Moines County, Respondent.

No. 54348.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 9, 1971.

William R. Ruther and William Bauer, Burlinton, for petitioner.

Alan N. Waples, County Atty., Burlington, for respondent.

MOORE, Chief Justice.

Petitioner, Margaret Ann Keever, seeks by certiorari to establish the respondent judge acted illegally in denying her motion to dismiss a murder charge on the ground she had been denied her right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, Article I, section 10, of the Iowa Constitution and Iowa Code section 795.2. We quash the writ.

The early pertinent facts are found in the following May 23, 1963 order of District Court Judge E. O. Newell:

'Heretofore and on April 2, 1963, the county attorney of Des Moines County, Iowa, returned into Court a County Attorney's Information charging the defendant Margaret Ann Keever, with the crime of murder; and thereafter during the preliminary proceedings under said Information, a reasonable doubt having arisen as to the of the defendant, further proceedings on the charge were suspended, and a trial had upon such question of sanity, as provided by Section 783.1, Code of Iowa, 1962; and it appearing that the jury in said trial has returned a verdict finding that the defendant is now insane, which verdict and finding required that no further proceedings be taken under the information until defendant's reason is restored; and the Court finding that the discharge of the defendant from custody would endanger public peace or safety, all in accordance with Section 783.3, Code of Iowa, 1962, and being advised in the premises:

'It is Ordered that no further proceedings shall be taken under the information until the reason of Margaret Ann Keever is restored, and that said defendant be, and she is, hereby committed to the Mt. Pleasant Health Institute, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; until she becomes, sane, which commitment, custody and proceedings hereafter taken shall be in accordance with the laws of Iowa, and particularly with the provisions of Sections 226.27, 226.28 and 226.29 Code of Iowa 1962.

'The Sheriff of Des Moines County, Iowa, shall deliver the defendant to said institution in accordance herewith, a certified copy hereof being his authority therefor.'

The request to suspend the proceedings and for a jury trial on the question of her sanity was made by Miss Keever's court appointed attorneys, Cahill and Peterson. She was then 18 years of age and had spent most of the previous three years in an Illinois Mental Institute. She was charged with stabbing to death her 84 year old woman employer.

Shortly after Miss Keever's commitment some of the personnel unsuccessfully attempted to have her returned to Illinois. On December 31, 1964 three staff psychiatrists sent a letter regarding Miss Keever to William M. Hildreth, then Des Moines County Attorney, stating 'while her behavior continues to be aggressive, impulsive, and a management problem, it is nevertheless the opinion of the staff that this patient is not insane and, therefore competent to stand trial.'

The record discloses a course of correspondence thereafter between the superintendent of the Mt. Pleasant Institute and the clinical director to the Des Moines County Attorney, the Attorney General's office and the Board of Control of the state institutions. The letters from the institute recognized Miss Keever would probably require institutional care for the remainder of her life and recommended she be transferred to a Davenport institute for additional care but expressed the belief she was able to stand trial and no longer insane.

In response to an inquiry by the then Iowa solicitor general, county attorney Hildreth stated no proper notice had been received relative to Miss Keever's situation. His letter included: 'It is quite apparent to us here, however, that she is a management problem and has been for some time. We have received rather reliable reports of some vicious assaults and attacks she has made on individuals during her stay in Mt. Pleasant. I have no doubt but there were probably some members of the staff at Mt. Pleasant at the time or her admission who were perfectly willing to say that she was sane so they could get rid of her.'

The solicitor general sent a copy of Hildreth's letter to the State Board of Control and advised they see Des Moines County was given proper legal notice.

On January 12, 1967 Dr. Walter Fox, Superintendent of the Mt. Pleasant Institute sent a letter to county attorney Hildreth referring to the December 31, 1964 letter of the three staff psychiatrists and stating the findings and recommendations of competency to stand trial had not changed. He therein referred to the court commitment of May 1963 and stated it was his intention to notify the court Miss Keever was ready for discharge and that if it was not a sufficient notice he should be advised and would prepare the necessary warrant. A copy of this letter was sent to District Judge George O. Van Allen and the state department of health.

The record does not reveal the details of action by Hildreth and Judge Van Allen (now deceased) but it clearly discloses they attempted to set up a conference with the Chief of the Mt. Pleasant Medical Staff, Doctor Eggert, regarding the doctor's suggested procedures to assist in Miss Keever's rehabilitation. In a letter to Hildreth, dated August 16, 1968, suggesting a conference, Dr. Eggert stated: 'I think it is manifestly clear that we are not necessarily asking that the patient go to Court for any particular type of hearing or any particular type of trial at this point.'

Faced with conflicting reports and suggestions from the Institute Doctors, Hildreth sought the attorney general's advice. On August 12, 1968, Larry Seckington, assistant attorney general, wrote Hildreth: 'I appreciate your interest in this case in contacting the Mt. Pleasant Mental Health Institute. My contact with that institution has led me to believe that they have been under a somewhat misguided impression as to the legal procedures to be used in handling a case such as this.

'I reviewed the entire file last week and find no sufficient legal notice from them to anyone which would allow the county to assume custody and bring this subject to trial.'

In 1966 attorney Cahill became a district court judge. In 1967 attorney Peterson became a municipal court judge. Miss Keever remained at the Mt. Pleasant Mental Health Institute after May 23, 1963 and was regularly visited by members of her family and friends.

On February 5, 1970 another attorney was appointed to represent Miss Keever and a habeas corpus proceeding was started as authorized by Code section 229.37 which provides:

'Habeas corpus. All persons confined as mentally ill shall be entitled to the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus, and the question of mental illness shall be decided at the hearing. If the judge shall decide that the person is mentally ill, such decision shall be no bar to the issuing of the writ a second time, whenever it shall be alleged that such person has been restored to reason.'

On trial of the habeas corpus case in Henry County district court Miss Keever was adjjdged sane and ordered held for trial on the murder charge in Des Moines county. Her counsel immediately filed a motion to dismiss the murder charge on the ground she had been denied her constitutional rights to a speedy trial. The motion asserted the state had known of her claimed restoration of sanity since at least December 31, 1964 and no good cause existed for the State's failure to afford her a speedy trial.

The motion to dismiss was submitted to Judge Bainter on evidence most of which we have already set out. The records of the institute, including Miss Keever's hospital chart were put in the record. They include many conflicting statements and opinions regarding her mental state throughout her commitment.

Judge Bainter's findings include: 'From a review of the hospital record, being Defendant's Exhibit No. 2, and specifically referring to the nurses' notes portion commencing with January 1, 1969, down through October 23, 1969, the Court makes the following findings:

'There were 16 specific instances where the defendant either threatened or assaulted a patient or a staff member at the Mental Health Institute. The incidents included such things as slapping patients, grabbing a patient by the hair and banging her head on the floor, grab keys away from an employee or threatening to strike either patients or staff members. During the same period the record discloses five instances where the defendant broke out windows in the hospital. This does not include instances when she stated she was going to break windows and asked to be placed in cuffs and a waist belt. The record during this period discloses ten instances when the defendant was placed in a belt with cuffs because of her conduct at the hospital. The record also discloses during this same period of time there were several instances where the defendant either with broken glass from windows or light bulbs cut her wrists or cut at her throat, and each instance the wounds were determined to be quite superficial. There was one incident during the period in question when the defendant threatened to kill a female patient because she had been flirting with the defendant's boyfriend. The record discloses that the female was removed from the ward that the defendant was on. The record further discloses during this same period that there were many days in which the defendant's conduct was pleasant and when she was not a custodial problem. The doctors' progress notes bearing the date, October 31, 1968, and over the signature of Dr. Lyons contains the following statement, to-wit: 'Back on 2W. The usual...