Watson v. Cameron

• Decision Date: 20 December 1962
• Docket Number: No. 17097.,17097.
• Citation: Watson v. Cameron, 312 F.2d 878, 114 U.S.App.D.C. 151 (D.C. Cir. 1962)
• Parties: Joseph WATSON, Appellant, v. Dale C. CAMERON, Superintendent, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

114 US App. DC 151, 312 F.2d 878 (1962)

Joseph WATSON, Appellant, v.Dale C. CAMERON, Superintendent, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Appellee.

No. 17097.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued November 26, 1962.

Decided December 20, 1962.

Mr. Marvin Joseph Garbis, Washington, D. C.(Mr. John A. Yacovelle, Jr., Washington, D. C., appointed by the District Court), for appellant.

Mr. Barry I. Fredericks, Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Messrs. David C. Acheson, U. S. Atty., Frank Q. Nebeker and Daniel J. McTague, Asst. U. S. Attys., on the brief, for appellee.Mr. John E. Hogan, Asst. U. S. Atty., and Mr. Nathan J. Paulson, Asst. U. S. Atty., at the time the record was filed, also entered appearances for appellee.

Before BAZELON, Chief Judge, and BURGER and WRIGHT, Circuit Judges.

BURGER, Circuit Judge.

Appellant was indicted for second degree murder October 10, 1960, and shortly thereafter was committed to St. Elizabeths Hospital for psychiatric observation.Found competent to stand trial, he was tried in April, 1961, on a reduced charge of manslaughter.A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity led to his commitment in St. Elizabeths Hospital under § 24-301, D.C.Code Ann.(1961).

In March, 1962, he sought release by way of habeas corpus and in April the petition was dismissed after hearing.The evidence at the hearing was appellant's own testimony which included his admission that he had a long history of convulsive seizures during which he lost his ability to control his behavior.It also showed that it was during such a seizure that he killed the man whose death led to indictment.He claimed to have been free of seizures for three months and that the treatment at St. Elizabeths Hospital had cured him.A staff psychiatrist testified that appellant was suffering from "chronic brain syndrome, secondary to a convulsive disorder with psychosis" and had paranoid delusions of persecution, was "confused at times and unable to control his impulses" and fought with other patients on occasion.At the time of the hearing in April 1962 the staff psychiatrist was unable to state that if released appellant would not be dangerous to himself and others.

Appellant claimed in the District Court that he was entitled as a matter of right to examination by an independent expert such as a member of the Mental Health Commission.

Heretofore we have considered that the allowance of such examination by an outside expert was within the sound...