United States v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 20 March 2014
• Docket Number: Case No. 3:13–cr–037.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Lashawnda ROBINSON, Defendant.

5 F.Supp.3d 933

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,

v.Lashawnda ROBINSON, Defendant.

Case No. 3:13–cr–037.

United States District Court,

S.D. Ohio,

Western Division.

Signed March 20, 2014.

Michael A. Sullivan, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff.

Cheryll A. Bennett, Federal Public Defender, Dayton, OH, for Defendant.

ENTRY DENYING GOVERNMENT'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER. DOC. 45.

THOMAS M. ROSE, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Government's Motion to Reconsider. Doc. 45. Therein, the government requests that the Court reconsider its ruling granting Motion in Limine by Defendant Lashawnda Robinson. Doc. 31. Therein, Defendant requested that the Court exclude from trial:

1. Any testimony offered by Good Samaritan or Crisis Care hospital personnel (physician, therapist, nurse) concerning any statement [Defendant] made in the course of mental health diagnosis and/or treatment.

2. Any medical/hospital records related to [Defendant's] mental health treatment and/or diagnosis.

Doc. 31. Because the admitting nurse was a necessary intermediary to receiving psychotherapy from the Crisis Care counselor and emergency room doctor, the motion was granted.

I. Background

According to the government complaint, on January 10, 2013, United States District Judge Timothy S. Black sentenced Defendant's brother to 162 months' imprisonment. Doc. 1, ¶ 9. Defendant's brother was convicted of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. United States v. Robinson, 3:12–cr–032, 2012 WL 6738679 (S.D.Ohio 2012). Defendant claims that the guns were hers, that she received them by inheritance and that she brought them into the house. Doc. 28–1, at 13. Representing the government in that case were Assistant United States Attorneys Sheila Lafferty and Mona Guerrier. Id. Defendant's brother was represented by Danny O'Brien. Id.

Defendant reacted to her brother's sentencing with outrage, including thoughts of harming those involved in her brother's conviction. She also suffered from suicidal ideation and migraines. Doc. 28–1 at 12. While Defendant had been treated for Multiple Sclerosis by a neurologist, she understood that she could not see that neurologist for another 10 months. Doc. 28–1, at 12.

She sought help. Defendant called East Way Behavioral Health Care, a mental health care provider. Id. She told them she felt like killing herself, as it was her fault her brother was convicted of gun charges. Id. She was told to go to Crisis Care at Good Samaritan Hospital. Id., at 13. Defendant's hospital records memorialize that, upon arrival at the hospital, “Patient present[ed] with psychiatric problems.” Doc. 41 at 11, 28, 41. Defendant reported suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation and migraines. Id. As she was being admitted to the hospital, an attending nurse, Dianne Wilz, was preparing to secure Defendant's purse, Defendant asked if the purse would be searched. Doc. 1, ¶ 4. Wilz told her that if Defendant was admitted, her purse would be inventoried and stored until she was released. Id. The complaint alleges that Defendant then stated that when she was released from the hospital, she intended to kill some people. Robinson then is alleged to have claimed that she had syringes filled with bleach in her purse and she intended to use the syringes to kill them. Upon questioning, Defendant said that her brother was sentenced to thirteen and a half years in prison for a crime he did not commit, claiming that she had actually committed the crime for which her brother had been sentenced. Id. ¶ 5.

When Wilz asked whom Defendant intended to kill, Defendant rattled off: Judge Black, his family, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Wilz thought Robinson was angry and serious about the threats.

A mental health counselor, Iris Blanchard, then interviewed Defendant. Defendant is alleged to have told Blanchard that she wanted to “hurt Judge Black, Judge Black's family, the assistant federal prosecutor, and Danny O'Brien.” Id. ¶ 6. Defendant is alleged to have claimed that she planned to inject these people with the bleach in the syringes. Id. Defendant is then alleged to have said that she wanted these people to feel the pain and anguish her family was going through. Id. Blanchard informed Defendant that she had a duty to report what she considered to be threats, at which point Defendant is alleged to tell Blanchard, “We never had this conversation.” Id. Blanchard recommendedinvoluntary hospitalization, an individualized treatment plan, and a warning to law enforcement officers. Doc. 41 at 5. The emergency room physician agreed. Id.

The hospital called the Dayton Police Department. Their interview caused Defendant to become combative and uncooperative. Doc. 41 at 15. The Police arrested Defendant and charged her with misdemeanor carrying of a concealed weapon, based upon the possession of the bleach-filled syringes. Upon being informed of the charges, Defendant indicated that she did not want to make any statements. However, the government alleges that Defendant made unsolicited incongruous statements to the effect that she had the syringes for personal protection, that she did not intend to inject anyone with the bleach, but she intended to shoot them. Id.

The federal government charged Defendant with one count of threatening to assault and murder a United States Judge and one count of threatening to assault and murder a United States Attorney, both charges constituting violations of 18 U.S.C. § 115(a)(1)(B). As trial approaches, Defendant has moved the Court to exclude statements and records relating to her efforts to obtain psychiatric treatment. Doc. 31. When the Court granted this motion, doc. 44, the government moved it to reconsider. Doc. 45.

II. Legal Standard

Although the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure make no provision for motions to reconsider, “Courts adjudicating motions to reconsider in criminal cases typically evaluate such motions under the same standards applicable to a civil motion to alter or amend judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e).” United States v. Titterington, No. CR. 2–20165, 2003 WL 23924932, at *1 (W.D.Tenn. May 22, 2003) (citing United States v. Sims, 252 F.Supp.2d 1255, 1260–61 (D.N.M.2003), United States v. Thompson, 125 F.Supp.2d 1297 (D.Kan.2000)). Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), the Sixth Circuit has held motions to alter or amend judgment “may be granted if there is a clear error of law, newly discovered evidence, an intervening change in controlling law, or to prevent manifest injustice.” GenCorp, Inc. v. Am. Int'l Underwriters, 178 F.3d 804, 834 (6th Cir.1999) (internal citations omitted). “This is an ‘extraordinary’ motion and ‘is seldom granted because it contradicts notions of finality and repose.’ ” AIA Eng'g Ltd. v. Magotteaux Int'l S/A, No. 3:09–cv–00255, 2012 WL 4442665, at *8 (M.D.Tenn. Sept. 21, 2012) (quoting Waiters v. City of Cleveland, No. 1:08–CV–2006, 2009 WL 3063384, at *1 (N.D.Ohio, Sept. 24, 2009)).

The motion “is proper only if it contains ‘an argument or controlling authority that was overlooked or disregarded in the original ruling, presents manifest evidence or argument that could not previously have been submitted, or successfully points out a manifest error of fact or law.’ ” Auday v. Wet Seal Retail, Inc., No. 1:10–CV–260, 2012 WL 124080, at *1 (E.D.Tenn. Jan. 17, 2012) (quoting Davie v. Mitchell, 291 F.Supp.2d 573, 634 (N.D.Ohio 2003)). “A Rule 59(e) motion ‘may not be used to argue a new legal theory.’ ” Roger Miller Music, Inc. v. Sony/ATV Publ'g, LLC, 477 F.3d 383, 395 (6th Cir.2007) (quoting FDIC v. World Univ., Inc., 978 F.2d 10, 16 (1st Cir.1992)). “Rather, a motion under Rule 59(e) ‘must either clearly establish a manifest error of law or must present newly discovered evidence.’ ” Id. (quoting World Univ., Inc., 978 F.2d at 16). “Rule 59(e) motions are aimed at reconsideration, not initial consideration. Thus, parties should not use them to raise arguments which could, and should, have been made before judgment issued.” World Univ., Inc., 978 F.2d at 16; see also Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians v. Engler, 146 F.3d 367, 374 (6th Cir.1998) (emphasis in original) (internal citations omitted). The Fourth Circuit has held that “[w]hen the evidence forming the basis for a party's motion for reconsideration was in the movant's possession at the time of the initial hearing ... the movant must provide a legitimate reason for failing to introduce that evidence prior to the court's ruling.” United States v. Dickerson, 166 F.3d 667, 679 (4th Cir.1999).

III. Analysis

The Sixth Circuit recognizes the existence of a psychotherapist-patient privilege protecting from compelled disclosure communications between licensed psychotherapists and patients made in the course of treatment or diagnosis. United States v. Hayes, 227 F.3d 578, 581–82 (6th Cir.2000), citing, Jaffee v. Redmond, 518 U.S. 1, 15, 116 S.Ct. 1923, 135 L.Ed.2d 337 (1996). In Jaffee, the Supreme Court reasoned that “[t]he psychotherapist privilege serves the public interest by facilitating the provision of appropriate treatment for individuals suffering the effects of a mental or emotional problem. The mental health of our citizenry, no less than its physical health, is a public good of transcendent importance.” Jaffee, 518 U.S. at 11, 116 S.Ct. 1923. To be effective, this privilege must be “categorical enough to achieve its announced policy objective.” Jaffee, 518 U.S. at 19, 116 S.Ct. 1923 (Scalia, J., dissenting).

Recognizing that “[t]he mental health of our citizenry ... is a public good of transcendent importance,” the Supreme Court noted that

a psychiatrist's ability to help her patients “is completely dependent upon [the patient's] willingness and ability to talk freely. This makes it difficult if not impossible for [a psychiatrist] to function without being able to assure ... patients of...