State v. Swails

• Decision Date: 03 July 1953
• Docket Number: Nos. 41261,41262,s. 41261
• Citation: 223 La. 751,66 So.2d 796
• Parties: STATE v. SWAILS.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 796

66 So.2d 796

223 La. 751

STATE v. SWAILS.

Nos. 41261, 41262.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

July 3, 1953.

Wellborn Jack, John E. Lawhon, James T. Jeter and Jack C. Wimbish, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant.

Fred S. LeBlanc, Atty. Gen., M E. Culligan, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Edwin L. Blewer, Dist. Atty., Shreveport, for appellee.

McCALEB, Justice.

Appellant, Roy C. Swails, was indicted on February 4, 1952, for the murder of Arlene Johnson Brown and the attempted murder of her husband, Charles W. Brown, at Shreveport. On March 18, 1952, he pleaded present insanity and insanity at the time of the commission of the crimes in each case and the court appointed a lunacy commission composed of Dr. Willis P. Butler, Caddo Parish Coroner, and Dr. Douglas L. Kerlin, a psychiatrist, to examine him. On April 24, 1952, these physicians reported that appellant was presently insane and further that he was not of sound mind at the time of the commission of the crimes. Following a hearing, the trial court, on April 25, 1952, declared appellant presently insane and he was committed to the East Louisiana State Hospital at Jackson.

On October 25, 1952, the Superintendent of the East Louisiana State Hospital, Dr. E. M. Robards, informed the judge that appellant's condition had improved to such an extent that he was able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense and that, consequently, he should be returned to court for final disposal of the charges against him. Attached to the communication was a copy of the report of the staff of the hospital. ¹

Upon the failure of the court to take any action in the premises, appellant's counsel filed a petition in each case requesting that he be brought from the asylum to the court for a new hearing on his present mental condition. When the petition was denied by the trial court, counsel applied to this court for relief and, on their application for remedial writs, we instructed the judge to grant a hearing.

In conformity with our ruling, the judge, on December 5, 1952, appointed the same lunacy commission, composed of Doctors Butler and Kerlin, to re-examine appellant. Following the completion of their examination, the physicians filed their report and, on January 9, 1953, a hearing was had to determine appellant's present mental condition. After hearing the evidence, the judge wrote an opinion in which he accepted the views voiced by Doctors Butler and Kerlin in their report and testimony, viz.--that appellant is able to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his defense although he is afflicted with a brain syndrome (cerebral arteriosclerosis) which is presently in a state of remission, meaning 'a diminution or abatement of the symptoms of his disease * * *'. Nevertheless, the judge ruled that, in view of the further medical opinion that appellant, if released from the hospital, would very likely relapse into his prior unsound mental state and would become a menace to society and dangerous to the community, the case was on a parity with that of State v. Laborde, 210 La. 291, 26 So.2d 749, wherein this court stated that a person accused of crime, and committed to a mental institution on his plea of present insanity, should be recommitted if it appears, at a subsequent hearing, that his release would be dangerous to the community. Conformably, it was ordered that appellant be returned to the mental hospital. He has appealed from the adverse decision.

The statutory law governing the subject of present insanity of a person charged with crime is LSA-R.S. 15:267, the pertinent part of which declares:

'If before or during the trial the court has reasonable ground to believe that the defendant against whom an indictment has been found * * * is insane or mentally defective to the extent that the defendant is unable to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense, the court shall immediately fix a time for a hearing to determine the defendant's mental condition. * * *

'If the court, after the hearing, decides that the defendant is able to understand the proceedings and to assist in his defense, it shall proceed with the trial. If, however, it decides that the defendant, through insanity or mental deficiency is not able to understand the proceedings or to assist in his defense, it shall take proper steps to have the defendant committed to the proper institution. If thereafter the proper officer of such institution is of the opinion that the defendant is able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense the officer shall report the fact to the court which conducted the hearing. If the officer so reports, the court shall fix a time for a hearing to determine whether the defendant is able to understand the proceedings and to assist in his defense. This hearing shall be conducted in all respects like the original hearing to determine the defendant's mental condition. If after the hearing the court decides that the defendant is able to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his defense it shall proceed with the trial. If, however, the court decides that the defendant is still not able to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense, it shall recommit him to the proper institution'. (Emphasis ours.)

It will be seen from the foregoing that the criterion provided by the statute for determining the question of present insanity of one charged with crime is whether the mental defect or the insanity is so pronounced that he is unable to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his defense. The test thus prescribed is actually nothing more than a statutory recognition of the rule at common law which was followed by the jurisprudence of this court prior to the adoption in 1928 of a Code of Criminal Procedure. ² State v. Burnham, 162 La. 737, 111 So. 79.

In State v. Genna, 163 La. 701, 112 So. 655, the court, in discussing the question of present insanity, cited with approval the rule laid down in Wharton & Stille, Medical Jurisprudence, Vol. 1, p. 210, Sec. 206 (5th Ed. 1905), as follows:

'The test of present insanity which will prevent a trial in a criminal action is whether the person is mentally competent to make a rational defense. And the question is whether the accused was sane enough to present to counsel the facts which ought to be stated and presented to the jury upon his trial. The knowledge of right and wrong as a test of insanity does not apply to a collateral proceeding to ascertain the mental capacity of the person about to be put on trial for a criminal act. A person arraigned for crime, however, who is capable of understanding the nature and object of the proceeding against him, and who comprehends his own condition in reference to it, and can conduct his defense in a rational manner, is to be deemed sane for the purpose of being tried, although on some other subjects his mind may be unsound. * * * '

The same precept is stated in 44 C.J.S., Verbo, Insane Persons, § 127, p. 284, thus:

'The test of insanity of an accused precluding his being put on trial for a criminal offense is usually stated to be his capacity to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him...