State v. Young

• Decision Date: 26 September 1989
• Docket Number: No. 870233,870233
• Citation: 780 P.2d 1233
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Dennis Arthur YOUNG, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

Page 1233

780 P.2d 1233

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Dennis Arthur YOUNG, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 870233.

Supreme Court of Utah.

Sept. 26, 1989.

David L. Wilkinson, Barbara Bearnson, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and appellee.

James A. Valdez, Elizabeth A. Bowman, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.

STEWART, Justice:

Following a bench trial, Dennis Arthur Young was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, and one count of aggravated robbery. Two issues are raised on this appeal: (1) whether the defendant was denied due process when he was forced to proceed with the trial after the judge ruled that the defendant was not competent to change his plea at one point during trial; and (2) whether there was sufficient evidence to convict the defendant on both counts of aggravated sexual assault and whether those counts grew out of a single criminal episode or whether one was a lesser included offense of the other.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

On September 11, 1986, at about 1:15 p.m., Mrs. L., the victim, and her two-year-old son were sitting in the front seat of their car at a car wash in Magna, Utah. Suddenly, a knife-wielding man jumped into the car and demanded that Mrs. L. move over to the passenger seat. Mrs. L. attempted to escape, but was stopped and warned that if she did what she was told, no one would get hurt. The man held the knife against Mrs. L. as he drove away from the car wash.

The man drove a considerable distance on a highway out of Magna and then on some small dirt roads, traveling slowly and carefully while looking for a secluded place. He talked to Mrs. L. as he drove, mentioning, among other things, that her gas gauge registered low and that her generator light was on. When he stopped, he caused the car to become mired in mud.

The man then forced Mrs. L. into the back seat of the car and tied her wrists and ankles. Finding only three or four dollars in her purse, the assailant said, "This isn't good enough." He then pulled her two shirts over her head and in the process touched her breasts. Turning her over onto her back, he pulled off her trousers and underpants and began to rub some type of lubricant on her anal area. She felt something she thought to be his finger penetrate her rectum. She also felt pain in this area and then felt his non-erect penis rubbing on and around her anal opening. She later testified that she thought no penile penetration had occurred. Before leaving, the man asked Mrs. L. for her credit card and PIN number, asking her to repeat the number backwards to make sure she was not lying to him. He then attempted to wipe off any fingerprints he might have left on the car.

Mrs. L. flagged down a truck and shortly thereafter called the police. The police found the defendant walking about two miles from the scene of the assault. Detectives found Mrs. L.'s credit card and keys and the knife used in the assault a short distance from where the defendant was apprehended. The defendant did not appear to be intoxicated, his eyes were not dilated, and he had good motor coordination.

Prior to trial, the defendant filed a notice that he would rely on the defense of diminished capacity, and two alienists, Dr. Heinbecker and Dr. Clark, were appointed to examine him. Dr. Heinbecker testified that the defendant had a mental illness which consisted of (1) dysthymic disorder (mild to moderate depression), (2) alcohol abuse, (3) mixed drug disorder, and (4) attention deficit disorder. Dr. Clark testified that the defendant did not suffer from any mental illness, or at least not any that would be relevant to criminal responsibility. He diagnosed the defendant as having an antisocial personality disorder, which, he said, was not a mental illness.

The defendant testified twice at the trial. First, he claimed that he had no recollection of an encounter with Mrs. L., but could only recall smoking marijuana in a bar in Magna. During the fourth day of trial, defense counsel moved to allow the defendant to plead guilty and mentally ill on all counts. The defendant again testified and declared that he had previously lied and now wished "to get it over with." The trial judge, noting the defendant's obvious state of emotional distress, stated that he would take the plea only if it were evident that the defendant understood the nature of his request and was making it voluntarily. Apparently concluding that the defendant's request was not made in a wholly deliberate and knowing manner, the judge refused the plea. The defendant was subsequently found guilty on five counts and not guilty on one count. The trial court did not decide whether the evidence of the defendant's mental illness required hospitalization in the state hospital.

II. COMPETENCE TO STAND TRIAL

The defendant's first argument is that he should have been given a hearing on his competency to stand trial. He asserts that when he tendered a plea of guilty and mentally ill, the trial judge rejected the plea on the ground that the defendant was incompetent to change his plea. After the trial judge refused to allow the changed plea, defense counsel stated, "Here's the problem, judge. If he doesn't know what he's doing now, how is he going to assist with the rest of the trial?" The trial judge's reference to the defendant's incompetence to change his plea is the foundation of the defendant's argument that he was incompetent to stand trial. ¹

Essential to the adversarial system of justice are safeguards assuring that only competent defendants are required to stand trial. A mentally incompetent defendant can provide no defense, and proceedings against such a defendant do not comport with due process. Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960) (per curiam), established the standard for determining competency to stand trial:

[T]he "test must be whether he has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding--and whether he has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings against him."

362 U.S. at 402 (quoting brief of the Solicitor General).

Incompetency to stand trial is addressed by Utah Code Ann. §§ 77-15-1 through 77-15-9 (1982 & Supp.1989). Section 77-15-2 recites the standard for determining whether a defendant is competent to stand trial. It states:

For the purposes of this chapter, a person

is incompetent to proceed if he is suffering from a mental disease or defect resulting either:

(1) In his inability to comprehend the nature of the proceedings against him or the punishment specified for the offense charged; or

(2) In his inability to assist his counsel in his defense.

Sections 77-15-3(1) and 77-15-4 allow a petition to be filed in the district court by any party to the trial or at the judge's direction when the defendant "is or becomes incompetent," and § 77-15-5 requires a hearing on such a petition.

State v. Bailey, 712 P.2d 281, 285 (Utah 1985), held that the trial court had no statutory duty to order a competency hearing in the absence of a petition. That ruling, however, was made in a case that had no evidence indicating incompetence on the part of the defendant to stand trial. There was only an unsubstantiated claim of incompetency. After the Court discussed Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966), and Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 95 S.Ct. 896, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975), it held that there was no statutory duty to hold a competency hearing during the course of a trial in the absence of a petition and without some evidence of mental illness. An uncorroborated assertion of mental illness at trial was not sufficient to require a competency hearing. The defendant points out, however, that here the trial judge ruled that the defendant was incompetent to change his plea and argues that that is sufficient under the due process clause to require a hearing on the issue.

The defendant relies primarily on Pate and Drope to support his contention. In Pate, a murder defendant failed to properly raise the issue of his competency to stand trial, but asserted incompetence throughout the trial. The United States Supreme Court held that where there is some evidence of the defendant's incompetence to stand trial, the defendant did not waive the issue by his procedural default in not raising the issue in a proper fashion. 383 U.S. at 384, 86 S.Ct. at 841. The Court also held that if evidence of incompetence to stand trial becomes manifest during trial, it is a denial of due process for the trial court not to hold a hearing to inquire into the competence of the defendant. 383 U.S. at 385, 86 S.Ct. at 842. In Drope, the Court again emphasized the relevance of the defendant's conduct both before and during trial in determining whether a competency hearing should be held.

Pate and Drope do not require a competency hearing in this case. One doctor testified as to the defendant's drug and alcohol addiction and his occasional slight to moderate depressions. On the fourth day of trial, the defendant exhibited some emotional distress. The trial court's statement that the defendant was incompetent to change his plea was based solely on the defendant's temporary emotional state at one point in the trial. The trial judge appears to have acted to protect the defendant from an act he might have later wanted to reverse.

There is nothing in the trial court's statement that suggested such a degree of mental disorder as to make the defendant incompetent to proceed. The defendant's display of emotional distress certainly did not show an inability to comprehend the proceedings against him or his lack of ability to assist counsel; nor did it rise to the level of a "mental disease or defect" under section 77-15-2. The trial court noted at the time of the defendant's tender of the guilty and mentally ill plea that the defendant was "distressed"...