Mason v. United States

• Decision Date: 04 November 1968
• Docket Number: No. 19077.,19077.
• Citation: 402 F.2d 732
• Parties: Charles Lee MASON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

402 F.2d 732 (1968)

Charles Lee MASON, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.

No. 19077.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

November 4, 1968.

J. Arnot Hill, of the Legal Aid and Defender Society, Kansas City, Mo., for appellant; John J. Cosgrove, Kansas City, Mo., was with J. Arnot Hill, Kansas City, Mo., on the brief.

Vernon A. Poschel, Asst. U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., for appellee; Calvin K. Hamilton, U. S. Atty., was with Vernon A. Poschel, Kansas City, Mo., on the brief.

Before VAN OOSTERHOUT, Chief Judge, and GIBSON and BRIGHT, Circuit Judges.

GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

The defendant Charles L. Mason appeals from a judgment of conviction entered in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on a jury verdict of guilty of attempting by intimidation to take funds in the possession of a bank, the deposits of which were insured by the FDIC, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). Mason was sentenced to five years imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 4208(a) (2). A timely appeal was taken. Mason does not deny the act charged but claims the government failed to prove him mentally competent to be answerable for the crime.

On October 14, 1966, at about 4:10 p. m., Mason entered the Tower Banking Center of the Commerce Trust Company, Kansas City, Missouri, went to a writing counter and composed a note on a deposit slip.¹ He then approached a teller window and handed the note to teller Ann Hudson, who was speaking on the telephone. Mrs. Hudson read the note and continued to speak on the telephone while making a hand signal beneath the level of the tellers' counter to guard Thomas Pierce, whom she observed approaching from the vicinity of the vault to her rear. Mason, his right hand tucked in his shirt, said to Mrs. Hudson, "Get off that 'phone or I will kill you." Meanwhile, the teller next to Mrs. Hudson leaned over and glanced at the note, just as the guard came up. The teller handed the note to the guard who immediately proceeded around the tellers' counter and grabbed Mason's arms from behind. Mason's attention had been directed to Mrs. Hudson and he was surprised by the guard's action in apprehending him from the rear.

The guard pulled Mason away from the tellers' counter and took him a short distance to a room where officers of the Bank conduct public business. For the first and only time Mason put up a show of resistance by twisting his upper body. The guard quickly subdued Mason, seated him in a chair, and searched him. Mason was not armed. Pierce then spoke to Mason for the first time asking him, "What in the world made you do a thing like this?" Mason replied, "I must be crazy." Police officers then appeared and Officer Jaco took charge of Mason by handcuffing him and escorting him to a police car. Two FBI Agents, Harmon and Curran, joined Officer Jaco in the police car, advised Mason of his constitutional rights, and the four made the three-minute ride to the police station.

Only one issue is raised by Mason on appeal. He contends that the District Court erred in overruling his motion for a directed judgment of acquittal at the close of all the evidence, as his criminal responsibility at the time of the crime was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In an attempt to establish a lack of criminal responsibility in the trial court, the defense called four witnesses who testified as to Mason's mental condition on October 14, 1966: the defendant Mason; Thomas Pierce, the Bank guard; Dr. August Kinzel of the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri; and Dr. Richard Childs, a psychiatrist in private practice.

Mason testified that after his discharge from the armed forces in 1945 he began drinking heavily and in time became addicted to alcohol, resulting in frequent unemployment and hospitalization in psychiatric wards some 25 to 30 times. For the past seven years he has been taking Desbutal and he has also used Doriden. Prescriptions for these barbiturates, which were refillable at several drug stores, were introduced. Mason recalled three suicide attempts in the past several years, one about a week before the robbery attempt. Four or five days before the robbery attempt, he fell down the stairs at his hotel; he was drinking and taking drugs at the time. On October 11, 1966, three days before the robbery attempt, he procured 180 Librium capsules at the Psychiatric Receiving Center where he was being treated as an out-patient. The morning of October 14, 1966, he thought he had taken all of the drugs in his possession, taking the last of his supply one or two days before; his last drink prior to the robbery attempt was the evening of October 13. Sometime between 10:00 a. m. and 12:00 noon on October 14, Mason telephoned his place of employment and learned of his discharge. He had about 25 or 30 cents in his possession. Mason claimed his memory of the robbery attempt was fragmented — he did not remember entering the Bank, but remembered writing a note and handing it to a woman. He felt that what he was doing was wrong, but he could not stop. He remembered that he had denied taking barbiturates when he was asked if he took them by FBI Agent Curran; he explained that a sense of shame had motivated his denial.

Dr. Kinzel first saw Mason on November 23, 1966, some five weeks after the robbery attempt, and examined Mason on four occasions from that date to March 2, 1967; total time spent with Mason was about three and one-half hours. Dr. Kinzel's diagnosis of Mason was that he suffered a "psychotic depressive reaction" and "acute brain syndrome," and that Mason had been psychotic for the past six or seven years, his condition being most severe in the year immediately preceding the attempted robbery. Dr. Kinzel was of the opinion that Mason was largely unaware of what he was doing, was not capable of knowing what he was doing, and was unable to control his actions at the time of the robbery attempt. Dr. Kinzel's diagnosis and opinion were based primarily upon information provided by Mason himself as to his alcohol and drug problems and his lack of memory of the events of October 14, 1966; also considered were the robbery note and facts obtained from a pre-sentence report and a report from a V. A. hospital.

Dr. Childs saw Mason for about 90 minutes on May 5, 1967, seven months after the robbery attempt and three days before the trial commenced. Dr. Childs' diagnosis and opinion concurred in that rendered by Dr. Kinzel. Dr. Childs relied solely on what was related to him by Mason in reaching his conclusions.

The Bank guard, Pierce, told of his taking Mason by surprise, Mason's lack of resistance, and the brief conversation he had with Mason. On cross-examination, Pierce said Mason appeared to be alert, walked steadily, spoke without slurring, the appearance of his eyes was not red, watery or glazed, and no odor of alcohol was detected. Pierce stated that he had considerable experience in the Bank during the past seven years with persons under the influence of drugs or alcohol and, in his opinion, Mason did not appear to be under the influence of either.

The government introduced the testimony of 11 lay witnesses and two psychiatrists to show that Mason was legally sane at the time of the commission of the offense. The lay witnesses all had occasion to observe and talk with Mason for a period of time on the day of the attempted robbery, or on the morning following.

James Wilson, Mason's immediate supervisor at his place of employment, was called by Mason between 10:00 a. m. and 12:00 noon on October 14, and upon inquiry told Mason that he no longer had a job. Mason told Wilson, "I don't know what I am going to do. I need the job bad." Wilson stated that Mason's voice sounded normal, as compared with other telephone conversations with Mason, and as contrasted with a telephone conversation when Wilson suspected Mason had been drinking.

Teller Ann Hudson testified that Mason did not appear to be confused or sleepy, his eyes were not blood shot, or dilated and he had no difficulty focusing, his walk was normal, and he did not smell of alcohol.² Jim Fitzgerald, an assistant cashier at the Bank, observed Mason for 10 to 15 minutes following the robbery attempt and stated that Mason did not appear to be confused or sleepy, sat erectly in a chair and did not stagger when he walked.

Officers Jaco, Klein, and Hockett of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, and Special Agents Harmon and Curran of the FBI all saw and talked with Mason immediately following the robbery attempt. To them, Mason's answers to questions were responsive, he did not appear to be sleepy or confused, and he gave no indication of having trouble remembering. His speech was deliberate but not slurred. He walked erectly without hesitation, and he had no trouble keeping his balance and did not require assistance when he got out of the police car at the station, even though his hands were handcuffed behind him. Officer Klein was in the courtroom during Mason's testimony and observed that Mason's appearance and actions, his demeanor and manner of speech were the same as when Mason was being interviewed immediately after the attempted robbery.

United States Deputy Marshal Guthridge, United States Commissioner Cisel and Assistant United States Attorney

Wiggins testified as to their observations of Mason on the morning of October 15, 1966, at the hearing before the Commissioner. Their testimony was the same as the other lay witnesses with regard to Mason's appearance, speech and demeanor. Guthridge remembered Mason as crying at times; Wiggins and Cisel did not. Guthridge later returned Mason from the Federal Medical Center and observed that Mason seemed more extroverted and "rational" than at the hearing.

Dr. Edward Rinck is Clinical Director of the State Hospital at Nevada, Missouri, where Mason was admitted on February 22, 1962 for treatment of alcoholism....