Martinez v. United States
| Decision Date | 30 March 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 243-69.,243-69. |
| Citation | 423 F.2d 479 |
| Parties | Joe Aragon MARTINEZ, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Winton M. Hinkle, Wichita, Kan., for appellant.
John A. Babington, Asst. U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M. (Victor R. Ortega, U. S. Atty., Albuquerque, N. M., with him on the brief), for appellee.
Before MURRAH, Chief Judge, and LEWIS and HOLLOWAY, Circuit Judges.
Martinez appeals from denial of relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. In 1966, he was convicted under a two-count indictment charging violations of 26 U.S.C. §§ 4742(a) and 4744(a). The conviction was affirmed in Martinez v. United States, 373 F.2d 810 (10th Cir. 1967).
Martinez alleged in his motion that he was mentally incompetent at the time of his trial in May, 1966. The district court properly ordered an evidentiary hearing, see Butler v. United States, 361 F.2d 869 (10th Cir. 1966), to determine whether, at the time of his trial, movant had "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding — and whether he had a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings against him." Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960); Wolcott v. United States, 407 F.2d 1149 (10th Cir. 1969).
On October 15, 1965, Martinez' first appearance in court after indictment, his appointed attorney moved under 18 U.S. C. § 4244 for a psychiatric examination of the defendant, stating at that time that, "I am not sure * * * that he understands or realizes what is happening here * * *." That report was inconclusive, and the court ordered Martinez sent to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri, for a 90-day commitment and examination. On February 25, 1966, on the basis of that report, the court found the defendant competent, and ordered the matter set for trial.
On April 11, 1966, less than one month before trial, the defendant was examined by one Dr. Jacobson, a local psychiatrist, and again found competent to stand trial.1
It is apparent, and not disputed, that Martinez has been a mentally disturbed individual. The consensus of reports alluded to at the hearing was that he suffered a sociopathic personality disorder, with anti-social reactions associated with drug addiction and alcoholism. Alternatively, he is described as suffering a pre-psychotic schizophrenic reaction. As Dr. Jacobson aptly stated,
No claim of incompetence is premised upon movant's personality disorders, as such. However, the reports presented the picture, in the words of Dr. Jacobson, of a "poorly integrated individual, which simply means that * * * if subject to sufficient stress and frustration, he is likely to fly apart, and disintegrate, and at that time, he could present a psychotic picture." Via interrogatories, movant offered psychiatric opinion that the "stress of a trial could possibly cause psychotic disorganization" in such an individual, without being apparent to lay observers. This potential for psychotic disintegration constitutes the crux of movant's claim.
On the record, the abstract possibility of such a breakdown is incontestable. However, the evidence indicates that the possibility is only that, and no more. Dr. Jacobson deemed such an occurrence "very unlikely." In his examination of movant shortly before his trial, he found no evidence of thought disturbance or mood variation. Martinez gave him a "relatively straightforward account of what had been going on." Likewise, Martinez' trial attorney testified that after his return from Springfield in early 1966, he noticed a considerable change in the defendant. At trial, Martinez conferred with him, commented to him on witness' testimony, and supplied additional information concerning events described by others. He stated that, prior to and during the...
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United States v. Houssein, Crim. No. 27315.
...question in the four cases that have come before it. Grisham v. United States, 427 F.2d 157 (10th Cir. 1970); Martinez v. United States, 423 F.2d 479 (10th Cir. 1970); Sepulveda v. United States, 415 F.2d 321 (10th Cir. 1969); Eby v. United States, 415 F.2d 319 (10th Cir. 1969). It has foun......
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Sensabaugh v. Beto
...cases of Lewellyng v. United States, 320 F.2d 104 (1963); Lee v. Alabama and Carroll v. Beto, both supra, n. 17; Martinez v. United States, 10 Cir., 423 F. 2d 479 (1970); Crail v. United States, 10 Cir., 430 F.2d 459 (1970); Arnold v. United States, 10 Cir., 432 F.2d 871 (1970); Barefield v......
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United States v. Barnes, CR-80-118-D.
...denied, 401 U.S. 1002, 91 S.Ct. 1245, 28 L.Ed.2d 535 (1971); Burke v. United States, 427 F.2d 465 (10th Cir.1970); Martinez v. United States, 423 F.2d 479 (10th Cir.1970); Kienlen v. United States, supra; Nunley v. United States, 364 F.2d 825 (10th Cir.1966); Butler v. United States, 361 F.......
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Lucero v. United States, 96-70.
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