U.S. v. Weed, 03-5100.

Decision Date16 November 2004
Docket NumberNo. 03-5100.,03-5100.
Citation389 F.3d 1060
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jason M. WEED, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Barry L. Derryberry, Federal Public Defender (Julia L. O'Connell, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with him on the briefs), Office of the Federal Public Defender, Tulsa, OK, for Defendant-Appellant.

Kevin C. Danielson, Assistant United States Attorney (David E. O'Meilia, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Office of the United States Attorney, Tulsa, OK, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before O'BRIEN, HOLLOWAY, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judge.

On December 12, 2001, twenty-seven year old Jason Weed walked outside his Tulsa, Oklahoma, apartment complex and fired two handgun rounds at a postal worker. The second shot struck and killed the victim. Weed, who had no history of mental illness, was peaceably apprehended and charged with the murder of a federal employee. Prior to the nonjury trial, Weed and the government stipulated that Weed was insane at the time of the shooting. Following the trial, the district court judge found Weed not guilty by reason of insanity and committed him to a mental health institution.

In May 2003, seventeen months after the shooting, the district court held a commitment hearing as required by statute to determine whether Weed was entitled to release under 18 U.S.C. § 4243 (2000), the federal statute governing commitment of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity. Mental health experts from both sides testified that Weed suffered from a psychotic episode at the time of the shooting, but that his symptoms had since disappeared. Both sides' experts also agreed that Weed may still have a latent mental illness or disorder that had not been triggered since the time of the crime. Based on the evidence presented at the commitment hearing, the district court found that Weed had failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that his release into the community would not create a substantial risk of danger to others, and committed him to the custody of the Attorney General of the United States.

On appeal, we must decide (1) whether Congress violates the due process rights of insanity acquittees by requiring them to prove their entitlement to release by a clear and convincing burden of proof; (2) whether Congress violates equal protection by placing a higher burden of proof for release on the class of insanity acquittees who have committed serious crimes; and (3) whether the district court clearly erred in finding Weed had not met the statutory standard for release.

We hold that the clear and convincing burden of proof under 18 U.S.C. § 4243(d) does not violate the Constitution, and that the district court did not commit reversible error in ordering Weed's continued confinement. Therefore, we affirm.

I. Background
A. The Shooting and the Charges

On the morning of December 12, 2001, Jason Weed calmly walked from his apartment building and, with no apparent provocation, shot and killed United States Postal Service employee Robert Jenkins as the letter carrier made his daily rounds. Tulsa police responded and quickly arrested Weed, who was found in a disoriented state several blocks from the shooting. Witnesses said Weed was acting very strangely at the time of his arrest, refusing to respond to officers' questions and singing "Jingle Bells."

The videotape officers took of Weed's post-arrest interrogation captured his strange behavior.1 In the video, Weed alternates between extreme laughter and anger and makes numerous unresponsive and irrational statements. At times he appears calm and coherent, and at others his behavior is erratic and his speech incomprehensible. Weed became so incoherent and agitated that officers eventually stopped their questioning.

Weed was subsequently charged with the murder of a federal employee and use of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1114, and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). He was detained in a federal medical center pending trial and evaluated for competency at the request of both his attorney and the prosecution.

B. The Trial

The district court held a nonjury trial in August 2002. Based on the psychological evaluations previously conducted, the parties stipulated that Weed had committed the crimes charged and that Weed had suffered from a mental disorder at the time of the offense that rendered him unable to appreciate the nature of his actions. After a hearing, the district court entered a special verdict finding Weed not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him committed to a mental hospital for further psychological examination as required by 18 U.S.C. § 4243(a)-(b).2

C. The Commitment Hearing

In May 2003, nine months after Weed's acquittal by reason of insanity, the district court held an evidentiary hearing as required by 18 U.S.C. § 4243(c).3 The purpose of the hearing was to determine whether Weed could prove by clear and convincing evidence that his release into the community would not create a "substantial risk of bodily injury to another person." 18 U.S.C. § 4243(d) and (e). Before the hearing, the district court denied Weed's motion to strike as unconstitutional the clear and convincing evidence standard contained in § 4243(d). The court received both testimonial and written evidence at the hearing on whether Weed met the statutory standard for release. We summarize that evidence in detail here.

1. Testimony of Dr. Curtis Grundy (for Weed)

Dr. Curtis Grundy is a licensed Oklahoma psychologist who first evaluated Weed to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. (IV R.O.A. at 11-12) Beginning five days after the offense, Dr. Grundy administered numerous psychological tests, reviewed the videotape of Weed after his arrest, interviewed Weed's friends and relatives about his behavior prior to the shooting, and reviewed Weed's records from the federal medical center where he was detained. (Id. at 15-19) Dr. Grundy testified that Weed displayed symptoms of psychosis at the time of the shooting, including visual and auditory hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and severe agitation. (Id. at 19-20) He explained that although Weed demonstrated significant mental status impairment during the initial evaluative session, "over the course of December 2001[ ] his symptoms were abating or resolving." (Id. at 19) He therefore diagnosed Weed as having suffered from a brief psychotic disorder and noted that Weed showed no signs of "malingering," or feigning symptoms of mental illness for secondary gain. (Id. at 17, 29)

In December 2002, approximately one year after the crime, Dr. Grundy performed additional psychological tests in preparation for Weed's commitment hearing. These tests included a clinical interview and mental status evaluation to rate Weed for psychopathy and violence. (Id. at 20) At the hearing, Dr. Grundy testified that Weed's psychotic symptoms had not recurred since December 2001, and that he currently met no Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV)4 criteria for mental disease. (Id. at 19, 21) In Dr. Grundy's opinion, Weed's brief psychotic disorder was caused by a mental defect. The exact nature of the defect, however, is unknown. (Id. at 29, 32) Dr. Grundy testified that none of the tests he relied upon could predict whether Weed will experience another onset of symptoms. (Id. at 35) He also testified that, according to the DSM-IV, recurrence of a brief psychotic disorder is rare. (Id. at 33)

On cross-examination, Dr. Grundy agreed that a person who has suffered an onset of psychosis is more likely to suffer another occurrence and presents a greater risk to the public than someone who has never had such a condition. (Id. at 43) Finally, Dr. Grundy stated the potential exists that Weed may still have the mental defect, but that it has not been triggered since December 2001. (Id. at 33-34)

2. Testimony of Dr. Harrison Pope (for the Government)

The district court certified Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, as an expert in psychotic disorders. (Id. at 74) As a professor of psychiatry, Dr. Pope helped draft the diagnostic criteria for psychotic disorders used in the DSM-III and DSM-IV, and has written and lectured on the psychiatric effects of steroid use. (Id. at 77, 96) In preparation for his testimony, Dr. Pope interviewed Weed by phone, read reports on his condition, watched the videotape taken after Weed's arrest, and reviewed testimony of people who had been with Weed just prior to his psychotic episode. (Id. at 81, 93) In addition, he listened to conversations Weed had with his mother while he was in jail. (Id. at 81, 92)

At the hearing, Dr. Pope testified that Weed had a brief psychotic disorder with "prominent manic features." (Id. at 95, 106) In Dr. Pope's opinion, Weed's previous steroid use and participation in an exhaustive self-awareness program the week prior to the shooting could be ruled out as causes of the psychotic break, leaving only "very rare possibilities" as the triggering factors. (Id. at 97, 98) According to Dr. Pope's hypothesis, Weed's psychotic episode may have developed from a seizure deep in the brain called a "complex partial seizure." (Id. at 99) However, he could not with reasonable medical certainty say that this was the cause. (Id. at 111-12) If seizure was in fact the cause, Dr. Pope testified that Weed is more vulnerable than the average person to having another seizure, but he also stated that the odds of recurrence lessen as time passes. (Id. at 102-03) Finally, although Dr. Pope testified that Weed does not currently exhibit any symptoms of psychosis, he clarified, "that [statement] should not be interpreted that I'm guaranteeing that he will never again have symptoms because I cannot say that with confidence." (Id. at 121-22)

3. ...

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