State v. Hand

• Decision Date: 08 November 2018
• Docket Number: No. 94902-6,94902-6
• Citation: 429 P.3d 502
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Respondent, v. Anthony Gene HAND, Petitioner.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

429 P.3d 502

STATE of Washington, Respondent,

v.Anthony Gene HAND, Petitioner.

No. 94902-6

Supreme Court of Washington.

Argued: June 26, 2018

Filed: November 08, 2018

Marie Jean Trombley, Attorney at Law, P.O. Box 829, Graham, WA 98338-0829, for Petitioner.

Jason Ruyf, Pierce County Prosecutor's Office, 930 Tacoma Avenue S, Room 946, Tacoma, WA 98402-2102, for Respondent.

FAIRHURST, C.J.

¶ 1 This case presents the question of whether detaining an incompetent defendant in jail for 76 days before providing competency restoration treatment violates his substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The trial court found Anthony Gene Hand incompetent to stand trial and ordered Western State Hospital (WSH) to admit Hand within 15 days for competency restoration treatment. Hand remained in county jail for 61 days after the court's 15 day deadline, for a total of 76 days of confinement. Hand's competency was eventually restored through treatment at WSH. He was subsequently convicted on both charges. Hand argues that the State violated his substantive due process rights by detaining him in jail for 76 days before admitting him to WSH for treatment—and that the proper remedy is dismissal with prejudice. We affirm the Court of Appeals and hold that detaining Hand in county jail for 76 days violated his due process rights but that dismissal with prejudice, the only relief Hand requests, is not warranted.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 On September 22, 2014, the Pierce County prosecuting attorney charged Hand with first degree escape. The police arrested Hand pursuant to an arrest warrant and found a bag of methamphetamine in his waistband during booking. The State charged Hand with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Hand did not post bail and therefore remained in county jail.

¶ 3 Hand's counsel requested a competency evaluation under former RCW 10.77.060(l)(a) (2012). On December 24, 2014, the trial court granted the request and ordered that Hand be held without bail pending a competency determination. After considering the opinion of the mental health evaluator, the court found Hand not competent to stand trial and ordered a 45 day commitment to WSH for competency restoration to begin within 15 days of the order.

¶ 4 On January 19, 2015, Hand sent a letter to the court suggesting that the charges be dropped because he was still in jail and had not been admitted to WSH for treatment. On February 11, 2015, Hand still had not been admitted to WSH, and he filed a motion to dismiss based on a substantive due process violation or, alternatively, for WSH to show cause why it should not be held in contempt.¹ The court denied the motion to dismiss, finding no due process violation, but ordered a show cause hearing. Hand filed another motion to dismiss alleging a due process violation on February 18, 2015. On February 25, 2015, he filed yet another motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, to release him from custody.

¶ 5 At the show cause hearing on February 25, 2015, the court considered a declaration from Dr. Barry Ward explaining that Hand was placed on a waiting list because WSH did not have the ability to admit Hand at the time of the order. Dr. Ward further explained that the restoration treatment services unit was operating near full capacity and had a wait list of 113 defendants. According to Dr. Ward, 71 days was the average wait time for 45 day restoration cases. This delay was due to a significant increase in orders for inpatient evaluation or restoration and a decrease in the number of available beds.

¶ 6 Ultimately, the trial court found the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in contempt of the trial court's December 24, 2014 order. The court ordered that Hand be transported to WSH by February 26, 2015, and imposed sanctions of $500 per day to be paid to the county jail for every day beyond the new deadline. Despite the order, Hand was not transferred to WSH on February 26, 2015. On March 4, 2015, finding no due process violation, the court denied the motions to dismiss. On March 10, 2015, 61 days after the court's 15 day deadline expired, WSH finally admitted Hand for restoration treatment. The court ordered DSHS to pay the county jail $6,000 in sanctions based on failure to obey a court order.

¶ 7 On April 29, 2015, the trial court found Hand competent to stand trial. A bench trial was held on stipulated facts, and the court found Hand guilty as charged. Hand appealed his convictions to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, Division Two, held that the State violated Hand's substantive due process rights by detaining him in jail for 76 days before WSH admitted him for treatment. State v. Hand , 199 Wash. App. 887, 890, 401 P.3d 367 (2017). However, the Court of Appeals held that dismissal was not required under CrR 8.3(b) because Hand could not show that the delay prejudiced his right to a fair trial. Id. at 899, 401 P.3d 367. Hand petitioned this court for review, which we granted. State v. Hand , 189 Wash.2d 1024, 406 P.3d 279 (2017).

II. ISSUES

A. Did the State violate Hand's substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by detaining him in county jail for 76 days without bail while he awaited competency restoration treatment?

B. Is dismissal with prejudice an appropriate remedy under these facts?

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 8 Constitutional questions are questions of law and are reviewed de novo. In re Det. of Morgan, 180 Wash.2d 312, 319, 330 P.3d 774 (2014).

IV. ANALYSIS

¶ 9 Washington has statutory procedures for the identification and treatment of mentally incompetent criminal defendants. Ch. 10.77 RCW. A person is incompetent to stand trial if a mental disease or defect causes him or her to lack "the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or her or to assist in his or her own defense." Former RCW 10.77.010(15) (2011). RCW 10.77.050 provides that "[n]o incompetent person shall be tried, convicted, or sentenced for the commission of an offense so long as such incapacity continues."

¶ 10 If there is reason to doubt a defendant's competency, the trial court shall appoint or request the secretary of DSHS to designate an expert to evaluate the mental condition of the defendant. Former RCW 10.77.060(1)(a). If the court finds the defendant incompetent based on the expert's report, the court shall stay the proceedings and commit the defendant to the custody of DSHS for placement into competency restoration treatment. Former RCW 10.77.084(1)(a) (2012); former RCW 10.77.086 (2013). If competency is then restored, the court shall lift the stay and continue the criminal proceedings. Former RCW 10.77.084(1)(b). If competency is not restored, the court shall dismiss the criminal proceedings without prejudice. Former RCW 10.77.084(l)(c).

¶ 11 Former RCW 10.77.068 (2012) expressed the State's "performance targets" for the timeliness of admissions for restorative treatment. The statute designated a performance target of seven days or less for admitting a defendant in pretrial custody awaiting restorative treatment. Former RCW 10.77.068(1)(a)(i).² The legislature expressly provided that performance targets do not "create any new entitlement or cause of action related to the timeliness of competency evaluations or admission for inpatient services related to competency to proceed or stand trial, nor can it form the basis for contempt sanctions under chapter 7.21 RCW or a motion to dismiss criminal charges." Former RCW 10.77.068(5).

¶ 12 Hand contends that the State violated his substantive due process rights by detaining him in jail for 76 days before WSH admitted him for treatment. He asserts that this violation warrants dismissal with prejudice because no other remedy provides him adequate relief.

A. The State violated Hand's substantive due process rights by detaining him for 76 days before providing treatment because the nature and duration of his detention was not reasonably related to the restorative purpose for which the trial court admitted him

¶ 13 Constitutional questions pertaining to the pretrial confinement of incompetent criminal defendants are analyzed under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.³ Or. Advocacy Ctr. v. Mink, 322 F.3d 1101, 1120 (9th Cir. 2003). When determining whether an incompetent criminal defendant's substantive due process rights have been violated, the court must balance the defendant's liberty interests against interests of the State. Id. at 1121 ; see Trueblood v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., 822 F.3d 1037, 1043 (9th Cir. 2016). Incompetent criminal defendants have a liberty interest in receiving restorative treatment and a liberty interest in freedom from incarceration because they have not been convicted of the charged crimes. Mink, 322 F.3d at 1121. The relevant question is whether the nature and duration of Hand's detention is reasonably related to the purpose for which he was committed. Id. at 1122 (citing Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715, 738, 92 S.Ct. 1845, 32 L.Ed.2d 435 (1972) ).

¶ 14 Both federal courts that have addressed this issue determined that the Fourteenth Amendment requires the State to admit an incompetent defendant to a state hospital for competency restoration treatment within seven days of the order calling for treatment.⁴ Id. at 1123 ; Trueblood v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., 101 F.Supp.3d 1010, 1022 (W.D. Wash. 2015), vacated and remanded , 822 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 2016). In Mink , Oregon Advocacy Center (OAC) sued the Oregon State Hospital (OSH) on behalf of its constituents, mentally incompetent criminal defendants, on the basis that OSH was violating incompetent defendants' Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. 322 F.3d at 1107. OAC argued that OSH violated defendants' substantive due process rights by unreasonably detaining them in county jails for weeks or months before admitting them to OSH for restorative treatment. Id. The United...