State v. Garcia
| Decision Date | 25 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 19,529.,19,529. |
| Citation | 128 N.M. 721,998 P.2d 186 |
| Parties | STATE of New Mexico, Appellant, v. Arthur GARCIA, Appellee. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of New Mexico |
Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Joel Jacobsen, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for Appellant.
Roger E. Michener, Michener Law Firm, LLC, Placitas, for Appellee.
{1} The formal opinion filed on December 17, 1999 is hereby withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted. {2} The district court determined Arthur Garcia (Defendant) was not competent to stand trial upon criminal charges arising from a May 14, 1996, car accident that left Linda Rodriguez seriously injured. The State now appeals. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
{3} The State's argument is far-ranging in its reliance upon the district court proceedings; however, it has only raised two issues for consideration. For purposes of our analysis, therefore, we narrow our outline of the factual and procedural background to: (1) the district court's initial ordering of a mental evaluation of Defendant; (2) the State's motion for a second mental evaluation; and (3) the hearing as to Defendant's competency.
{4} Defendant's arraignment was convened on November 24, 1997, at which time his counsel first raised the question of whether Defendant was competent to stand trial. State's counsel argued that Defendant appeared lucid and pointed out difficulties posed in attempting to secure a mental evaluation of him without an arraignment and entry of charges. The district court ruled that Defendant was competent for purposes of arraignment and proceeded with the hearing. Defendant pled not guilty.
{5} Upon Defendant's plea, the court remanded him to the sheriff's custody, postponing any determination of whether he could be released pending trial until the next day. At the next day's hearing, the court again noted that Defendant had been competent for purposes of arraignment; however, it recognized that the issue was likely to recur throughout the pretrial proceedings.
{6} On December 5, 1997, the district court convened a bond hearing, at which defense counsel again alerted the court to his concerns as to Defendant's competency. Specifically, counsel discussed his difficulties in attempting to maintain effective—indeed, any—communications with him. The court responded:
When [Defendant] was arraigned ... it was clear he was competent for that process, but I think there's a high risk he could decompensate very easily. It appears to me, viewing Mr. Garcia today, that he has even decompensated over the last two weeks being in custody and that would interrupt, if not would drastically effect the proceedings in total.
{7} At this point, defense counsel approached the bench, presented the court with a document for its review, and spoke with the judge off-record. State's counsel inquired as to what the two were discussing, and the judge replied, "It's an ex parte order for an evaluation." State's counsel replied simply, "oh, okay." The tape-recorded transcript is blank immediately after this exchange, shut off in the midst of an on-record presentation by defense counsel regarding a separate issue.
{8} At the State's request, the district court convened a status conference on April 3, 1998. At that hearing, the State requested that the court set a date for a hearing as to Defendant's competency. The State further requested that it be allowed its own mental evaluation of Defendant, so that it would not have to rely on "the defense's expert." The State acknowledged that it had already received a mental evaluation of Defendant, conducted by Dr. Susan Cave who was on contract with the New Mexico Department of Health. Doctor Cave concluded Defendant was not competent to stand trial. Defense counsel responded by pointing out that Dr. Cave was not an expert hired by the defense, but was an employee of the state and appointed by the court pursuant to statutory authority. The court deferred any ruling upon the State's request, ordering the State to make a formal, written motion that alerted Defendant to the precise nature and grounds of its request. The State submitted its succinct motion, again asserting that Dr. Cave was Defendant's expert, on April 6.
{9} The district court convened a bond revocation and apparent motions hearing a week later. At this hearing, the State again requested that Defendant be sent to the state facility in Las Vegas for a full mental competency evaluation. However, defense counsel noted logistical problems in that as Dr. Cave had already conducted a local examination of Defendant, the Las Vegas facility would not accept Defendant for a second evaluation. The court agreed, noting:
the local forensic evaluation team has determined that [Defendant] is incompetent, [the Las Vegas facility] won't take him to redo that part. So if you want him evaluated such that you have the opportunity to either concur or challenge whether or not he's competent ... we need to talk about it more deeply.
After a brief and unexplained recess, the State made a record of its reasons for wanting a second evaluation as to Defendant's competence:
Your honor, ... the district attorney's office is not willing to accept the forensic evaluation conducted by Dr. Cave because there is no evaluation for reports of the defendant's dangerousness, and that's the key issue as to whether the defendant is dangerous to others.... And the district attorney's office is not willing, would not call Dr. Cave as an expert for the district attorney's office. We would like to have a separate person or group of people evaluate the defendant other than Dr. Cave. If given the choice, we would not choose Dr. Cave to have the defendant evaluated.
The district court denied the State's request, designating Dr. Cave as the court's expert regarding competency, but did authorize the State to conduct a separate evaluation of Defendant solely as to his potential dangerousness.
{10} On May 14, 1999, the district court convened Defendant's competency hearing. Defense counsel called two witnesses at the hearing: Dr. Cave and P. Jeffrey Jones, Defendant's initial trial attorney and co-counsel at the hearing.
{11} Doctor Cave spoke extensively as to her evaluation of Defendant and her opinion regarding his capacity to stand trial. She explained that Defendant suffered from dementia, secondary to diabetes; mild to moderate mental retardation, which was likely connected to his dementia; several "medical diagnoses," including diabetes, osteoporosis, and a fungal infection of his feet; and that he had a history of alcoholism. Doctor Cave noted that Defendant was in such a state that as of the date of her evaluation he could not tend even to his own daily, and significant, medical needs. This observation appears to be consistent with the fact that during the course of the proceedings below, Defendant was hospitalized on at least two occasions for diabetes-related emergencies.
{12} Doctor Cave testified as to her administration of several diagnostic tests, including the "trailmaking A and B" tests, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-revised, and the Competency Assessment Instrument-revised (CAI-revised). Upon her evaluation of Defendant's performance on these tests, she observed that Defendant's motor skills scored at the bottom of the scale, which she attributed to his inability to focus; that he had "severely impaired" cognitive abilities, including significant memory dysfunction; and that he demonstrated organic brain dysfunction.
{13} On both direct and cross-examinations, Dr. Cave testified in significant detail regarding her attempted administration of the CAI-revised. She described the instrument as a set of interview questions designed to inquire as to a criminal defendant's general understanding of the legal process. She also described it as the standard competency instrument in the field. She detailed many of the questions she asked Defendant, as well as what answers he gave. However, she also testified that she was unable to complete her administration of the instrument beyond the first few questions as Defendant became agitated, defensive, angry, and frustrated. It was her opinion that his reaction stemmed from his inability to focus on, understand, and track her questions.
{14} Doctor Cave was asked whether she thought Defendant was malingering. She stated that in her opinion he was not. She testified as to her training to discern whether a criminal defendant is faking his or her symptoms. The primary tool she noted for making such a determination is reliance upon "collateral sources," such as interviews with a defendant's case worker, family, associates, and the like, the goal being to look for a consistent pattern. Upon such interviews in Defendant's case, she noted that his lack of competence was universally corroborated and concluded that he was not malingering.
{15} Finally, she testified that, upon her experience in conducting thousands of competency evaluations, "there's no doubt in my mind" that Defendant was not competent to stand trial.
{16} Defense counsel next called Attorney Jones to the stand. He testified generally as to his experience with Defendant, the difficulties he had in communicating the nature and gravity of the charges against him, and in working effectively with him. He further testified that of the 3000 to 4000 clients he has had as a public defender, Defendant is among the most difficult he has had to work with. He attributed this difficulty to Defendant's inability to understand what was happening and how to cooperate with his attorney. Finally, he testified, based upon Defendant's consistently erratic behavior, that he did not believe Defendant was malingering.
{17} At the...
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