US v. Baker, 93-447-HC-BR.

• Decision Date: 13 October 1993
• Docket Number: No. 93-447-HC-BR.,93-447-HC-BR.
• Citation: 836 F. Supp. 1237
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner, v. Leroy BAKER, Respondent.

836 F. Supp. 1237

UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner, v. Leroy BAKER, Respondent.

No. 93-447-HC-BR.

United States District Court, E.D. North Carolina, Raleigh Division.

October 13, 1993.

Barbara D. Kocher, U.S. Attorney's Office, Raleigh, NC, for plaintiff.

G. Alan DuBois, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, NC, for defendant.

Leroy Baker, pro se.

ORDER

BRITT, District Judge.

On 22 July 1993 the United States moved the court for a hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4245 to determine the present mental condition of respondent Leroy Baker, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina. By Order dated 30 July 1993 the Federal Public Defender for this district was appointed to represent respondent, an additional mental health examiner was authorized to be selected by respondent, and a date for a hearing was set. The date of the hearing subsequently was rescheduled and it ultimately was conducted on 13 August 1993. At the conclusion of the hearing the court determined, by a preponderance of the evidence presented, that respondent was presently suffering from a mental disease or defect for the treatment of which he was in need of custody for care or treatment in a suitable facility. The court ordered that he be committed to the custody of the Attorney General for hospitalization and treatment.

The above recitation accurately describes not only the proceeding in this case but in dozens¹ of others conducted in this court over the past several years. What is unusual about the proceeding, however, is that it was conducted through the medium of video conference technology, or "teleconferencing."² Counsel for respondent objected to the hearing being conducted in that fashion on grounds that it violated respondent's Fifth Amendment rights to due process, his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel, and other rights guaranteed to him by 18 U.S.C. § 4247(d).

I

The Federal Correctional Institution at Butner ("FCI Butner") is a medium-security federal correctional facility that includes a mental health unit capable of meeting the needs of approximately 200 inmates. Although geographically located in Durham County, which is in the Middle District of North Carolina, it is located for jurisdictional purposes in the Eastern District.³ Raleigh, located some forty miles southeast, is the Eastern District seat of court nearest to FCI Butner. It is there that all mental competency hearings, including those under 18 U.S.C. §§ 4245 and 4246, are held.

Inmates must be transported by United States Marshals Service deputies from FCI Butner to Raleigh in trips that normally take one hour. On a typical day when mental competency hearings are held,⁴ at least two deputies must leave Raleigh at around dawn in order to travel to Butner, secure the inmates, make the return trip to Raleigh and be in court by 9 a.m. or a scheduled time thereafter. The return trip is, of course, equally as long. Inmates usually spend the entire day away from FCI Butner in transit, in a holding cell in the courthouse or in court. This sometimes results in a disruption of inmates' normal medication schedules. While in the holding cells mental health inmates often are, by necessity, placed with other inmates.

II

In preparation for the hearing, the court directed the parties to label and exchange numbered exhibits on the day preceding the hearing and to provide copies to the courtroom deputy.⁵ The equipment was set up and tested prior to the date of the hearing and counsel for both parties had an opportunity to see it and to experiment with it.

Participants in the hearing in Raleigh were located in Courtroom Two, seventh floor, United States Courthouse, 310 New Bern Avenue, the regular courtroom of the undersigned judge presiding. Present, in addition to the judge, were Linda K. Teal, Assistant United States Attorney, representing the Government; Donna Tomawski, Court Reporter; and Beth Lee, Deputy Clerk of Court, all of whom were participating in the proceeding. Elizabeth Manton, the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District, was present to observe the proceedings on behalf of respondent. There also were spectators in the courtroom.

Participants in the hearing at Butner were located in a Psychology Department conference room. Present were the respondent and his attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender G. Alan DuBois, and witnesses for both the government and the respondent. In addition, two security officers and a unit counsellor, Charles Massenburg, were present. Other prison staff members and a representative of the United States Attorney's office also were in the room.

In Raleigh the courtroom was equipped with one 25" monitor and one 18" monitor, the former being located directly in front of and facing the bench and the latter directly in front of government counsel's table, facing the back of the courtroom. At Butner a 25" video monitor was located directly in front of the inmate and his attorney. Two cameras were used in the Raleigh courtroom, one of which was fixed on the judge and the other on the Assistant United States Attorney. Two cameras also were used at Butner; one was fixed on respondent and his attorney and the other on the witness stand. Only one camera could be focused at a time and this was accomplished by a switching device located at the other facility. Mr. DuBois, respondent's attorney, made the decision whether to focus the Raleigh cameras on the judge or on the Assistant United States Attorney. The undersigned judge made the decision whether to focus the Butner camera on the respondent, his attorney, or the witness. The camera directed toward respondent and his attorney could be focused on both or concentrated on respondent for a close-up view.

Ms. Tomawski, the court reporter, transcribed the full proceedings with no apparent difficulty.

III

The hearing was conducted in the normal fashion. The government called as its only witness Dr. Rushton Backer, a staff psychologist of the Mental Health Division at Butner. He was examined by Ms. Teal and cross-examined by Mr. DuBois. The court had no difficulty hearing and understanding the questions of Mr. DuBois or the testimony of Dr. Backer. During the questioning the court changed the focus of the camera from counsel to witness and back and also focused on respondent. No exhibits were offered into evidence by the government, although it did rely on a case summary filed with the Motion to Determine Mental Condition. No testimony was presented by respondent, although Mr. Baker was permitted to make an unsworn statement to the court from his seat. The court had no difficulty hearing Mr. Baker. In addition, the written report of Dr. Billy W. Royal, a private psychiatrist appointed by the court to assist the defense, was received into evidence. Upon the close of the evidence Mr. DuBois and Ms. Teal made closing arguments. Again, the court had no difficulty hearing and understanding the presentation of the attorneys.

Throughout the hearing the video transmission was clear. The court was able to see the respondent, his attorney and the witnesses at Butner with clarity comparable to that of the parties in the Raleigh courtroom. Facial expressions were evident and demeanor was clearly observable.

IV

At the conclusion of that part of the hearing, the court invited the parties to present additional evidence and argument on respondent's objections to the teleconferencing technology being used. Three witnesses were called by the defense and questioned by Ms. Manton from the Raleigh courtroom. Mr. DuBois testified from Butner; Dr. James Luginbuhl, an expert in social psychology, and Jeffrey Starkweather, a defense attorney, testified from the Raleigh courtroom. The court called as witnesses Dr. Sally Johnson, Deputy Warden and Director of Mental Health Services at Butner, and Alex Holman, Deputy United States Marshal. Dr. Johnson testified from Butner and Mr. Holman from the Raleigh courtroom. Both were cross-examined by Ms. Manton. The court had no difficulty hearing and understanding the witnesses at Butner. The video transmission of this part of the proceeding also was clear. However, the televised image of Dr. Johnson covered only a part of her face, apparently because the camera at Butner had not been adjusted for her.⁶

The parties were given an opportunity to file briefs in support of their respective contentions. In addition, briefs and other filings by the parties, including the declaration of Leonard S. Rubenstein,⁷ the affidavit of Deborah Greenblatt,⁸ and a document entitled "Objections To The Proposed Teleconferencing Of Mental Competency Hearings" by Sara Cordelia Wrenn⁹ have been presented to and considered by the court.

V

Respondent contends that the use of teleconferencing technology in this proceeding violated his rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment, his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, and other rights to which he is entitled under 18 U.S.C. § 4247(d). Specifically, he contends that his absence from the courtroom deprived the judge of the opportunity to observe his demeanor as a participant in the hearing and as a witness,¹⁰ and brought into play a host of psychological and behavioral factors that are potentially prejudicial to him.

The court notes at the outset that a hearing to determine the present mental condition of an imprisoned person held pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4245 is a civil hearing. See e.g., United States v. Copley, 935 F.2d 669, 672 (4th Cir.1991). As such, it does not implicate the full range of rights guaranteed to individuals subjected to criminal proceedings. A civil commitment does, however, bring about a significant deprivation of an inmate's liberty interests because, for example, it may place the inmate into a regimen of forced treatment or subject him to greater public stigma. See Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480, 493-94, 100 S.Ct. 1254,...