State v. Martin

• Decision Date: 09 June 1997
• Citation: State v. Martin, 950 S.W.2d 20 (Tenn. 1997)
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. David Paul MARTIN, Appellant.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

Page 20

950 S.W.2d 20

STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. David Paul MARTIN, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Tennessee at Knoxville.

June 9, 1997.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 15, 1997.

Herbert S. Moncier, Ann C. Short, Knoxville, for Appellant.

John Knox Walkup, Attorney General and Reporter, Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General, Kathy Morante, Deputy Attorney General, Eugene J. Honea, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, for Appellee.

Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General, Robert Jolley, Assistant District Attorney, Knoxville (at trial), for Appellee.

OPINION

ANDERSON, Justice.

We granted review in this case to determine whether a court-ordered mental evaluation violated the defendant's right against self-incrimination and the right to counsel under the United States and Tennessee Constitutions.

The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the defendant waived his right against self-incrimination by asserting an insanity defense and that the mental evaluation, which was ordered by the trial court and conducted pursuant to Tenn.R.Crim.P. 12.2(c), did not violate the right to counsel because it did not constitute a critical stage of the proceedings. The Court then affirmed the defendant's conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

We hold that where a defendant asserts a defense based on his or her mental state, a court-ordered mental evaluation does not violate the right against self-incrimination provided any statements made during the evaluation, and any "fruits" derived from such statements, are used by the prosecution only for impeachment or rebuttal of the defense. We also hold that the defendant does not have the right to counsel during the mental evaluation itself.

Accordingly, while we employ different reasoning, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals for the reasons articulated below.

BACKGROUND

David Paul Martin, the defendant, and the victim, his second wife, had a tumultuous marriage marked by domestic disputes, physical violence, and numerous separations and reconciliations.

In May of 1991, the victim entered Martin's house, cursed his daughter, argued with him, and then said she wanted "to see him locked up again." According to one witness, Martin responded, "Well, here I go." Martin's daughter, however, denied that Martin made such a statement. In any event, Martin knocked the victim from her chair and strangled her to death. He then showered, gave his children some keys and money, and waited for the police to arrive.

Martin was indicted for first-degree murder, and he filed notice of his intent to rely on a mental responsibility defense. The State moved, and the trial court ordered, that the defendant undergo a mental examination. Martin moved for an order to protect his right to counsel, his right against self-incrimination, his right to confrontation, his right to a fair trial, and also to assure that the examination was fairly administered. He specifically asked that his counsel or a defense expert be permitted to attend the mental examination.

At a hearing on Martin's motion for a protective order, Dr. Clifton Tennison, a psychiatrist with the Helen Ross McNabb Center, testified that:

My opinion is that, to have anyone else present during psychiatric evaluations hinder and hampers the accuracy of the evaluation. The person will color and change their responses, based on who is in the room.

Following the hearing, the trial court entered an order compelling Martin to undergo a mental evaluation to determine his competency and his mental state at the time of the offense. The order provided that Tennison could determine who could be present during the evaluation and whether it would be recorded by video or audio tape.

Dr. Tennison decided that neither defense counsel nor experts employed by Martin would be present at the evaluation; however, he allowed the examination to be videotaped. When Tennison completed his examination, he sought permission for Dr. James Burrell, a clinical psychologist, to conduct an additional interview. The trial court authorized Burrell's involvement over defense objection. Dr. Burrell did not allow defense counsel or defense experts to be present, nor did he allow the examination to be recorded.

After Martin renewed his notice to rely on a mental responsibility defense, the trial court entered an order which stressed the following:

[N]o statements made by [the defendant] during the court ordered examination, or any fruits of those statements, shall be introduced at the trial of this cause unless and until the issue of mental responsibility is raised by [the defendant], or for impeachment purposes as provided by Rule 12.2(c), Tenn.R.Crim.P. Any party who intends to use such statements, or the fruits thereof, shall first make application to the bench outside the hearing of the jury prior to eliciting testimony or introducing evidence contemplated by this Order.

At trial, Martin presented the testimony of Dr. John Kandilakas, a clinical psychologist who treated him after the offense. Dr. Kandilakas testified that at the time of the offense, Martin was suffering from a major depressive disorder and had suffered a disassociative reaction. He concluded that Martin met the test for insanity pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-11-501(a)(1991). ¹ In rebuttal, Drs. Tennison and Burrell both agreed that Martin suffered major depression at the time of the offense. They concluded, however, that he did not meet the legal standard for insanity at the time he committed the offense.

After deliberation, the jury convicted Martin of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction on appeal, as well as the defendant's five-year sentence. We granted this appeal to determine whether the court-ordered mental evaluation violated the defendant's right to counsel or right against self-incrimination.

MENTAL EXAMINATIONS

We begin our analysis by examining the procedural rule which governs court-ordered mental examinations of criminal defendants in Tennessee. The rule provides that if the defendant intends to rely on the defense of insanity at the time of the offense, he or she must notify the prosecution in writing prior to trial. Likewise, if the defendant intends to "introduce expert testimony relating to a mental disease or defect or any other mental condition of the defendant bearing on the issue of his or her guilt," he or she shall notify the prosecution in writing prior to trial. Tenn.R.Crim.P. 12.2(a) & (b).

Under the rule, the prosecution may request that the trial court order the defendant to undergo a "mental examination by a psychiatrist or the other expert designated for this purpose in the order of the court." The rule, however, limits the use of statements made by the defendant:

No statement made by the defendant in the course of any examination provided for by this rule, whether the examination be with or without the consent of the defendant, no testimony by the expert based upon such statement, and no other fruits of the statement shall be admitted in evidence against the defendant in any criminal proceeding except for impeachment purposes or on an issue respecting mental condition on which the defendant has introduced testimony.

Tenn.R.Crim.P. 12.2(c).

The defendant has challenged the entire process under this rule on constitutional and other procedural grounds, which the lower courts rejected. ² Although we granted review in this case to address the right to counsel and right against self-incrimination issues, the defendant insists that the courts must exercise more supervision and control to ensure the fairness of the mental examination process and the reliability of its results. The State responds, in short, that Rule 12.2 sufficiently protects the interests of both the defendant and the prosecution.

Preliminarily, we recognize that there are obvious concerns generated when a defendant is compelled to undergo a mental examination at which he or she will, in all likelihood, discuss not only details of his or her life but also information about the charged offense. While numerous federal and state jurisdictions have confronted these issues, there has been little discussion in Tennessee and essentially no detailed analysis of the procedures set forth in Rule 12.2.

SELF-INCRIMINATION

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides in part that "no person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." Similarly, article I, § 9 of the Tennessee Constitution states that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused ... shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself."

These provisions protect the accused from being compelled to provide evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature. While we are free to extend greater protection to citizens under our state Constitution than is granted under the federal Constitution, we have traditionally interpreted article I, § 9 to be no broader than the Fifth Amendment. Moreover, we have never adopted a literal interpretation of the term "evidence" used in article I, § 9. See Delk v. State, 590 S.W.2d 435, 440 (Tenn.1979); State v. Frasier, 914 S.W.2d 467, 473-74 (Tenn.1996).

The defendant has vigorously argued that without adequate safeguards, the court-ordered mental examination process violated his right against self-incrimination under the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. U.S. Const. amend. V; Tenn. Const. art. I, § 9. He maintains that the courts should balance the "competing interests at stake" by requiring (1) that the mental examination be monitored by defense experts and counsel, (2) that the examination be recorded, and (3) that the prosecution not have access to statements and information from the examination until such time as it may be used at trial for impeachment or rebuttal under Rule 12.2(c). On the other hand, the State argues that Rule 12.2(c) protects the defendant's...