People v. Tally

• Decision Date: 29 April 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97CA0362.,97CA0362.
• Citation: 7 P.3d 172
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robin V. TALLY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Colorado Court of Appeals

7 P.3d 172

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robin V. TALLY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 97CA0362.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. II.

April 29, 1999.

Certiorari Granted August 28, 2000.

Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Martha Phillips Allbright, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Richard A. Westfall, Solicitor General, John D. Seidel, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

David F. Vela, Colorado State Public Defender, Andrew C. Heher, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.

Opinion by Judge CRISWELL.

Defendant, Robin Tally, appeals the judgment entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of first degree murder. We affirm.

Defendant and his victim both commenced work with a cable television company at about the same time. During the succeeding year, however, defendant formed the impression that the victim was being favored over him, which he resented. In addition, his work deteriorated, and about one year after he was hired, defendant's employment was terminated.

Several months later, defendant discovered the victim making a service call in the area in which he lived, and he accosted her verbally, warning her that she was "in his territory." He later told his former supervisor that, if the victim was not kept off his "turf," he would "go to a higher level of security."

Several days later, defendant again found the victim making a service call in his neighborhood. He shot her three times with an automatic pistol; she fell on her back and was shot three more times.

Defendant then proceeded immediately to a local police station where he announced that he had just shot someone. Ultimately, he gave a detailed account of the killing, and the officers recovered the murder weapon from his car.

At trial, defendant's principal defense was that he was insane at the time of the offense. This defense was based upon expert opinion that, while defendant understood that killing was legally wrong, he believed that God had given him permission to kill the victim.

Pursuant to § 16-8-104.5, C.R.S.1998, a unitary trial before the same jury was held to determine both defendant's substantive guilt and the issue of his sanity. The jury found that he was sane and guilty of first degree murder, and the court entered judgment on that verdict.

I.

Defendant's mental competency to stand trial and related issues were the subject of several hearings in the trial court. Initially, following a court-ordered psychiatric examination and hearing, the court found that defendant was incompetent to proceed and ordered that he be committed to the Colorado State Hospital until restored to competency. Several months later, at the People's request, the court held a hearing to determine whether defendant should be forcibly medicated, after which the court authorized the State Hospital to do so.

Later, the trial court held another hearing to determine if defendant had been restored to competency. Following that hearing, the court determined that he had been restored to competency, but that forced medication was still required. Hence, it directed that defendant be returned from the State Hospital, but that he continue to receive medication during his pre-trial confinement and trial.

Based on this series of hearings and orders, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in requiring his involuntary medication and in determining that he had been restored to competency. We reject both assertions.

A.

Defendant's contention that the court erred in requiring his forced medication is grounded upon his basic premise that forcing him to appear before the jurors in his medicated, rather than his natural, state caused them to be given a false impression of his true mental condition. The result, he asserts, was a violation of his due process and other constitutional rights. We disagree.

In Riggins v. Nevada, 504 U.S. 127, 112 S.Ct. 1810, 118 L.Ed.2d 479 (1992), the Supreme Court held that the forced administration of antipsychotic drugs to a defendant violates due process precepts absent a determination that such administration is medically appropriate and that there is an overriding justification for the use of such drugs. It suggested, however, that due process considerations will be satisfied if it is demonstrated that the administration of the drugs is medically appropriate and that, after consideration of less intrusive alternatives, it is determined that their use is essential to protect either the defendant's or other persons' safety.

Likewise, in Donaldson v. District Court, 847 P.2d 632 (Colo.1993), our supreme court authorized the involuntary administration of such drugs if, in an adversarial proceeding, the petitioning party establishes, by clear and convincing evidence, four factors, as follows: (1) the patient is incompetent to participate effectively in the treatment decision; (2) treatment by antipsychotic drugs is necessary to prevent a significant and likely long-term deterioration in the patient's mental condition or to prevent the likelihood that the patient will cause serious harm to the patient or to others in the institution; (3) a less intrusive treatment alternative is not available; and (4) the patient's need for treatment by antipsychotic medication is sufficiently compelling to override any bona fide and legitimate interest of the patient in refusing treatment.

Here, after an evidentiary hearing upon the People's initial request to medicate defendant involuntarily, the trial court found that: (1) defendant had previously been found to be incompetent; (2) he had become belligerent and had threatened to kill hospital staff members; (3) he was suffering from a delusional disorder that rendered him incompetent to participate effectively in any treatment decision and had refused to take medication voluntarily; (4) treatment by use of antipsychotic drugs was necessary to prevent a significant and likely long-term deterioration in the defendant's mental condition; (5) in the absence of such treatment, it was likely that he would cause serious bodily harm to others; (6) less intrusive treatment alternatives, such as verbal therapy and group counseling, had been attempted but had been unsuccessful; and (7) the medications could have serious side effects.

The expert testimony before the court at the time it made these findings was that the side effects of the antipsychotic drug involved, haloperidol, consisted of the possibility, with long term use, of the development of tardive dyskinesia, i.e., the involuntary and abnormal movement of the lower face, including grimacing, panting, twisting of the head, and tongue protrusion. Likewise, the patient can develop extra-pyramidal symptoms with presentation similar to that seen in persons with Parkinson's disease, i.e., tremor of the tongue, fingers, legs and toes, as well as difficulty in initiating foot movement and arising from a sitting position.

There are drugs designed to alleviate these physical side effects, but there is no evidence that defendant exhibited any of these tremors or abnormal movements.

The drug affects the mental and emotional aspects of the patient by calming him or her and, ultimately, by having the patient become more aware of reality; it works to aid in removing the patient's delusions. However, there was no evidence that administration of this drug would affect defendant's ability to concentrate, would make him drowsy, or would otherwise present any adverse mental or emotional reactions (except those that might be associated with the physical side effects, if developed).

Evidence before the court at the time of the hearing on the People's motion supports the court's findings. In addition, those supported findings meet the due process requirements of Riggins v. Nevada, supra,

as well as the first three requirements of Donaldson v. District Court, supra.

Further, the trial court's findings also support the conclusion that, consistent with Donaldson's fourth requirement, defendant's need for the required drugs was sufficiently compelling as to override defendant's pre-trial interest in refusing treatment.

Several months after the entry of this order, the People asserted that defendant had been restored to competency, and a hearing upon this issue was held. The court concluded that he had been so restored, primarily as a result of his treatment with the antipsychotic drug. Hence, it ordered the parties to trial. It determined, however, that defendant could not remain in a competent state unless he continued to be treated with haloperidol. Hence, it also directed his continued involuntary medication of this drug.

Prior to trial, defendant moved to have the court rescind its directive for continued medication. In doing so, however, he did not assert that the administration of the drug was interfering with his ability to recall, to understand, to relate, or to cooperate with counsel. Nor did he allege, at that time, that it was causing undesirable physical side effects. His sole ground for the relief requested was his assertion that, after his removal from the State Hospital, the court no longer had authority to require his continued medication. The court denied this motion without comment. Defendant does not raise this issue in this appeal.

Riggins v. Nevada, supra,

does not make clear the extent to which due process would allow the administration of an antipsychotic drug to a defendant with the sole aim of restoring one who is incompetent to competency so that he or she might be tried. While the court suggested that such a purpose "might" evidence an overriding state interest, it also specifically refused to determine "whether a competent criminal defendant may refuse antipsychotic medication if cessation of medication would render him incompetent at trial...." Riggins v. Nevada, supra, 504 U.S. at 136, 112 S.Ct. at 1815, 118 L.Ed.2d at 490. In addition, Justice...