State v. Tilden

• Decision Date: 16 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. WD,WD
• Citation: State v. Tilden, 988 S.W.2d 568 (Mo. App. 1999)
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Robert TILDEN, Appellant. 51633.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 568

988 S.W.2d 568

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Robert TILDEN, Appellant.

No. WD 51633.

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District.

March 16, 1999.

John Morris, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.

Gary E. Brotherton, Public Defender, Columbia, for appellant.

Before Presiding Judge ROBERT ULRICH, Judge HAROLD LOWENSTEIN and Judge JOSEPH ELLIS.

LOWENSTEIN, Judge.

The issue at the heart of this criminal appeal is whether, under the United States Constitution and Missouri's constitution and statutes, there was sufficient evidence to support a reasonable cause belief that the defendant was not mentally competent to understand the proceedings or able to assist in his defense, thereby requiring defendant's counsel to challenge his competence, or in the alternative, mandate the court to sua sponte order a psychiatric examination at or prior to trial or sentencing.

In a nutshell, a defendant's Constitutional due process rights to a fair trial are violated when the person is tried, convicted, and sentenced when sufficient evidence existed to raise a reasonable doubt as to the mental competency of the defendant to stand trial, but there was a failure to inquire as to competence by way of a mental examination (infra, Section 552.020.2 and .3, RSMo Cum.Supp.1997) and then by way of a hearing. (infra, Section 552.020.7 and .8). Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 385, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966); Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 181-2, 95 S.Ct. 896, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975); Brent Binge et al., Project, Criminal Procedure Project, 85 Geo. L.J. 893, 1164-5 (1997). A defendant is incompetent to stand trial when he is unable to understand the proceedings or to assist counsel in the defense.

I.

Defendant Robert Tilden's case was tried to the court. He was convicted of one count of sodomy of a child, and sentenced to ten years in the Department of Corrections with a recommendation that he be placed in the treatment center in Farmington. The facts of the crime, and the procedural history of this case, are unusual as well as complicated. First a chronology of events is presented, followed by a factual narrative.

1958 Contracted "Asian flu" at the age of 18 months. The resulting high fever

left Tilden brain damaged.

1964 Admitted to Mid"Missouri Mental Health Center (MMMHC) at the age of six

where he was treated with Ritalin and Mellaril due to his

hyperactivity.

1966 Received further psychiatric treatment and was diagnosed with "Minimal

Organic Brain Syndrome." Received additional outpatient treatments in

1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, and 1976.

1985 Admitted to University Hospital from May 29 to June 7 for inpatient

treatment for "self-mutilating behavior" related to excessive use of

alcohol.

1987 Suffered severe head trauma from a fall from a truck, and was in a coma

for about a month. Underwent brain surgery where doctors performed a

"right posterior temporal lobe craniotomy," removing a portion of

Tilden's right temporal bone. After recovery, Tilden was transferred to

a rehabilitation center.

1991 Suffered grand mal seizure.

1994 December 27"Date of offense and arrest.

December 28"Tilden is taken to MMMHC under a 96"hour involuntary

admission order because of fear by police that he would harm himself or

others.

1995 January 4"After 96 hour evaluation, Tilden is readmitted to the mental

health facility "voluntarily" and is retained in, and evaluated by,

MMMHC for an additional 26 days.

June 22"Trial begins.

June 26"Convicted.

JulyPre"Sentence Investigation (PSI) completed and filed prior to

sentencing.

September 11"Sentenced to Department of Corrections facility in

Farmington, but ordered placed in the mental health treatment portion

of the facility.

September 18"Appellant committed to the Farmington Correctional Center.

Appeal filed in this court.

1995 May 9"Tilden files pro se Rule 29.15 motion.

June 12"With new attorney, files amended motion and request for an

evidentiary hearing under Rule 29.15, due to failure of counsel to

challenge Tilden's competence to proceed.

September 25"Evidentiary hearing held.

1997 April 25"29.15 motion denied.

1998 January 30"Appellant files motion in appellate court to appoint a limited

guardian for purposes of appeal, or in the alternative, to stay appeal

and remand for a competency hearing.

February 19"Appeal held in abeyance and remanded for a competency

determination.

May-State stipulates that Tilden is incompetent to prosecute his appeal

and Guardian Ad Litem is appointed.

Tilden's father died of a stroke in 1972. His mother, with whom Tilden resided prior to the incident, lives in Moberly. According to psychiatric assessments, Tilden has a history of chronic alcohol abuse; Tilden also considers himself to be a "full-fledged alcoholic." However, due to Tilden's inconsistent information, it is difficult to assess when his alcohol abuse began or what has been done to treat it. While admitted to MMMHC following his arrest, Tilden reported that he had been sober, and in outpatient counseling, for drinking during the nine months prior to his arrest. Tilden also reports to have been drinking a quart of whiskey and a 12-pack of beer daily. He has also reported that he began drinking at an early age, stating both that he began drinking at age 3 and that he began drinking at age 13 or 14.

Tilden's criminal history, not shown in the timeline, includes an arrest and conviction, in October 1991, for sexual abuse for pinching a woman's breast. He also had six arrests, resulting in four convictions, for stealing and/or trespassing between 1992 and 1994. Tilden never spent more than four months in jail for these offenses because he was continuously given either probation or a few days in jail. During the motion hearing, the prosecutor stated, "that over the history of all those years, everybody--I don't know that this Court specifically, but myself and Mr. Marshall [trial counsel] many times dealt with Mr. Tilden and we were aware of his problems. And we dealt with his cases as best we could; but, many times, it required trying to find treatment programs in resolving these issues." (emphasis added).

According to the information in the pre-sentence investigation (PSI), Robert Tilden's psychological and physiological problems began in infancy and continued into adulthood. He is now forty years old. When he was only 18 months old, the "Asian Flu" left him with "permanent and significant" brain damage, which would later affect his ability to learn to read and write. Beginning in childhood, his hyperactivity required the use of prescription drugs. In 1987, he fell off a truck and suffered severe head trauma, which left him in a coma for almost a month. The accident required brain surgery, and portions of Tilden's temporal lobe tip were removed. He has been receiving social security disability income relief since that time; however, his mother, who acts as his guardian, takes care of his checks for him. It was also reported in the PSI that Tilden's daily activities include visiting a dead friend at Oakland Cemetery in Moberly, and Tilden stated that, "I go there mainly to talk to the animals." He explained that he talks to deer, hoot owls, and other animals.

According to information in the PSI, Tilden has an IQ of 73, he is illiterate, his "memory quotient" falls at about the 4 th percentile, and he has "severe distractibility" and "impaired attention." He is a grown forty-year-old (thirty-eight at the time of trial) who lives with, and requires the aid of, his mother, and who "operates on a nine year old level without hope for total recovery."

Although his behavior in court alone was not so abnormal as to raise doubts concerning his competency, there was enough information to cause the trial court to note its acknowledgement of Tilden's disabilities. At sentencing, the court stated that it considered Tilden's situation special, taking precautions to insure that they did not "treat him like others who may be in the institution, that there's a special program for people like him." The trial court also stated its acknowledgment that Tilden's "chronological age of being 38, he may not, you know, reflect like that." In addition, the court also asked Tilden more than once whether he was aware that the doctors had deemed him competent to stand trial.

The incident which brought Tilden before the trial court, occurred on December 27, 1994. Eight-year-old B.L.B. walked down from his grandparent's house to visit Tilden, who lived a few doors away. At some point, Tilden and B.L.B. were alone in a small garage next to the house. Tilden unsnapped the boy's pants and pulled them down, then pulled down B.L.B's underwear. Tilden told B.L.B. that "this is what girls will do" and proceeded to put his mouth on B.L.B's "privates." When B.L.B's grandfather showed up, B.L.B. pulled up his pants and underwear, but the grandfather saw the boy standing in front of Tilden with his (B.L.B's) pants still open with Tilden seated in front of him in the dark garage. The grandfather took B.L.B. home and later filed a police report describing the incident. B.L.B reported that he told Tilden he had to defecate, but that Tilden would not permit him to use the toilet. Rather, Tilden instructed B.L.B. to relieve himself in the corner of the garage and provided B.L.B. with a paper towel.

Following his arrest, Tilden was taken by authorities to Columbia and admitted to the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center (MMMHC) for a 96-hour involuntary admission because police feared he was a danger to himself or others. Following the expiration of the original admission period, Tilden remained at MMMHC on a voluntary basis for the next 26 days. Many tests and evaluations were performed, which were included in the PSI. These mental evaluations never focused on, or gave an opinion as to, the accused's competency to stand trial. It appears however, there was some type of...