Linson v. State

• Decision Date: 03 February 1981
• Docket Number: 5 Div. 497
• Citation: 394 So.2d 85
• Parties: Lorenza LINSON v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 85

394 So.2d 85

Lorenza LINSON v. STATE.

5 Div. 497.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Feb. 3, 1981.

Michael D. Cook, Lanett, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Thomas R. Allison, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

DeCARLO, Judge.

The appellant was indicted on a charge of assaulting Carolyn Hughley with intent to murder her. On the date set for arraignment he was committed to Bryce Hospital for a determination of his competence to stand trial.

Two months later he was returned to Chambers County Jail. Subsequently, he was arraigned and pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Then, approximately one year from the time of his arrest, he was tried by a jury, convicted of assault with intent to murder, and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

In October, 1978, the appellant lived with Carolyn Hughley and her two children. On October 18, 1978, during a trip to Montgomery the appellant began to argue with Ms. Hughley, and told her, "When I get you home, I'm going to kill you." After they got home the appellant continued to argue with her until she fell asleep. She was later awakened by the appellant cutting her on the back with a butcher knife. According to Ms. Hughley, the appellant cut her numerous times and hit her with a hammer. Ms. Hughley testified that the assault with the knife continued through the night, and it was not until noon the following day that the appellant took her to the hospital. Ms Hughley testified that the appellant informed the hospital personnel that she (Ms. Hughley) had been in an automobile accident.

Dr. Ray DeGuzman, a physician in LaFayette, Alabama, testified that in October, 1978, he saw Carolyn Hughley in the emergency room of the Chambers County Hospital. He treated Ms. Hughley for multiple lacerations which were attributed, he was told, to an automobile accident. He testified that Ms. Hughley was not bleeding upon her admission to the hospital, but stated that if the bleeding had continued she would have died. Dr. DeGuzman said that one hundred to one hundred and twenty sutures were required to close the deep lacerations; although no one cut would have been fatal, without treatment the multiple wounds would have caused death.

The testimony of Terry Johnson, Ms. Hughley's twelve-year-old son, corroborated his mother's account of the incident. He testified that he saw the appellant go to the kitchen and get a butcher knife and then strike his mother with the knife.

At the end of Terry Johnson's testimony, the appellant made a motion to exclude the evidence because of the State's failure to present a prima facie case. He argued that the evidence offered by the State showed that the injuries "were not sufficient to produce death and were not calculated to cause death."

The court denied the motion and the appellant called four witnesses in his behalf. George Connors, a field examiner for the Veteran's Administration, testified that he had known the appellant for approximately ten years and that, in his opinion, the appellant could not distinguish right from wrong at the time of the offense.

William O. Walton, Jr., an attorney in LaFayette, Alabama, testified that he had been appointed guardian for the appellant in April, 1970. In that capacity he made regular reports to the probate court on how money paid to the appellant by the Veteran's Administration had been spent. Further, he said that he knew the appellant had been in the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Tuskegee some nineteen different times. Mr. Walton also testified that he had seen the appellant on October 19, 1978, at ten o'clock in the morning, and it was his opinion that the appellant was unable to distinguish right from wrong at that time.

Lorenza Linson, the appellant, testified in his own behalf. He stated that, on the day of the incident, he had been taking medication and drinking. Appellant testified that he felt himself getting sick that day and he did not know what happened, but he related the following events:

"I started getting up, I got mad and me and her fought from the bedroom to the kitchen and when I got to the kitchen she reached for the knife and I come up and I had the hammer and swung at her head and broke out a pane in the living room."

The appellant explained that he thought Ms. Hughley was "going out" with someone else. He admitted that he had "cut her" across the shoulders "just a couple of times," but explained, "I was so mixed up."

During cross-examination, appellant admitted that he had told the hospital personnel that Carolyn Hughley had been in a car wreck because he did not want to "get locked up." He acknowledged that the reason he cut her in the face was because he "wanted her scarred so nobody else would have her."

Julian Woodhouse, a doctor of clinical psychology, stated that he first saw the appellant in August, 1979, at the Chambers County Jail. At that time appellant was quite irrational. Dr. Woodhouse stated that, in his opinion, the appellant was dangerous, could not be treated properly in a local facility, and should be transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital. Dr. Woodhouse testified that he had seen the appellant on two other occasions in October, 1979, and it was his opinion that appellant was schizophrenic-paranoid type. Dr. Woodhouse also gave his opinion that the appellant was suffering from a severe mental disease on the night of the incident. He said it was his observation that the appellant could not tell the difference between right and wrong in all situations.

I

The appellant complains that he was deprived of his constitutional right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States.

In Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed. 101, the United States Supreme Court ruled that speedy trial cases must be approached on a "ad hoc basis" using a "balancing test in which the conduct of both the prosecution and the defendant are weighed." Id., 92 S.Ct. at 2181-92. The court outlined four factors which should be assessed in determining whether a particular defendant has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial. Those four factors were identified as: "(L)ength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant." Id. The Court found "no constitutional basis for holding that the speedy trial right can be quantified into a specified number of days or months." Id, 92 S.Ct. at 2188.

In determining whether the appellant has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial the following sequence of events should be analyzed:

1) October 19, 1978, appellant arrested and incarcerated.

2) March 1, 1979, indictment against appellant.

3) March 8, 1979, order by circuit court for appellant to undergo a mental examination.

4) March 13, 1979, appellant committed to Bryce Hospital.

5) April 30, 1979, letter from Bryce Hospital Forensic Unit Co-ordinator to circuit court stating that appellant was diagnosed as schizophrenic-paranoid type when he entered Bryce Hospital, and that, as of April 24, 1979, he had been re-evaluated and found competent to stand trial. The letter requested that an appropriate order be issued remanding custody of the appellant to the Chambers County Court.

6) May 9, 1979, order from the circuit court to the sheriff of Chambers County to return the appellant from Bryce Hospital to Chambers County.

7) August 29, 1979, arraignment; trial set for October 25, 1979.

8) October 25, 1979, motion to dismiss for lack of speedy trial filed; case continued in order to obtain Bryce Hospital records.

9) October 31, 1979, trial.

The appellant argues that the period of approximately one year from the time of his arrest until trial constituted "undue and oppressive incarceration" and, "obviously impaired the ability of Mr. Linson to defend himself."

This court in Andrews v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 370 So.2d 1072, cert. den. 370 So.2d 1075, stated: "There is no fixed length of time that is considered to be per se unreasonable." The United States Supreme Court, in Barker v. Wingo, supra, reasoned that, "(U)ntil there is some delay which is presumptively prejudicial, there is no necessity for inquiry into the other factors that go into the balance."

In the present case, approximately four and one-half months transpired between the arrest of the appellant and the court order to undergo a mental examination. Thereafter, the appellant remained in Bryce Hospital for approximately two months. After his release from Bryce Hospital, the appellant spent approximately three months in jail before his trial date was set. During that time, and at all other times appellant was incarcerated, he was unable to make bond. Based on the circumstances involved in the case before us, the delay in bringing appellant to trial was not, in our judgment, unreasonable or "presumptively prejudicial." Barker v. Wingo, supra.

The court order committing the appellant to Bryce Hospital was pursuant to § 15-16-20, Code of Alabama 1975. Consequently, the postponement of appellant's trial was partially due to procedural safeguards invoked for his protection to assure that he was mentally competent to stand trial.

In Cook v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 333 So.2d 855, this court stated "A defendant cannot claim his Constitutional rights have been denied ... where delays are made necessary by the law itself."

In the present case, the appellant's assertion of his speedy trial right did not come until October 25, 1979, the date the case was set for trial.

The appellant insists that the delay between his arrest and the order for the mental examination "greatly decreased the likelihood of any professional being able to testify as to the state of mind and intent of the defendant on the date of the occurrence." As a result, appellant claims that his ability to defend himself was impaired.

Dr. Woodhouse, who was the only expert...