United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Northern Division
OPINION AND ORDER
MYRON
H. THOMPSON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.
Defendant
Thomas William Grier has been indicted on one count of aiding
and abetting another, and being aided and abetted by another,
in the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and (2). This
case is now before the court on defense counsel's motion
for a mental-competency examination. The court held a hearing
on the motion on July 18, 2019. For the reasons explained
below, the court will order this examination as well as, if
feasible, other mental-health examinations.
A.
A court
may order a competency evaluation on a party's motion
“at any time after the commencement of a prosecution
for an offense and prior to the sentencing of the defendant,
” if there is “reasonable cause to believe that
the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental
disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the
extent that he is unable to understand the nature and
consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist
properly in his defense.” 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a). The
court may order a defendant to be committed for a reasonable
period to the custody of the Attorney General to be placed in
a suitable Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility for this
competency examination. See 18 U.S.C. §§
4241(b), 4247(b).
Grier
has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder to the
extent that the Veterans Administration considers him
disabled. He is prescribed psychotropic medication, which it
appears he is not receiving in the jail where he is currently
being held. Defense counsel reports that, during several
meetings with him, Grier “has demonstrated erratic
behavior and a failure to comprehend and appreciate a
realistic view of the evidence, its weight, and the relevant
law” and has been emotionally labile, loud, jumpy, and
constantly moving. Motion to Determine Competency (doc. no.
38) at 2-3.
Based
on these representations, the court finds reasonable cause to
believe Grier may not be competent to stand trial. The court
will, therefore, order him committed to the custody of the
Attorney General for competency evaluation at a BOP
mental-health facility, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§
4241(b) and 4247(b). Once the examination is complete, the
examiner shall prepare a psychological report and file this
report with the court and with counsel, pursuant to §
4247. This report should include a description of the
psychological and medical tests administered and their
results; the examiner's findings, diagnosis, and
prognosis of Grier's mental condition; and the
examiner's opinions as to whether, given the demands that
may be made on Grier throughout this prosecution, Grier is
currently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering
him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to
understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings
against him or to assist properly in his defense.
B.
If,
after this evaluation, the court were to find that Grier is
incompetent to stand trial, the court would then be required
to commit him again to the custody of the Attorney General,
and again he would be hospitalized for treatment in a
suitable facility in order to determine whether there is a
substantial probability that, in the foreseeable future, he
will attain the capacity to permit the proceedings to go
forward. See 18 U.S.C. § 4241(d)(1). The court
wishes to avoid the further delay and inconvenience to the
parties and to the court of another potential commitment,
including the extra time required to transport Grier from the
BOP mental-health facility back to the local jail in this
district and then back to the mental-health facility again.
Thus, the court will order that, if the BOP examiner
finds Grier incompetent, the examiner should, if
possible and practicable as allowed by the applicable
statutory time constraints, see 18 U.S.C. §
4241(b), and without an additional court order, immediately
conduct a restoration evaluation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §
4241(d)(1) to determine if there is a substantial probability
that, in the foreseeable future, Grier will regain
competency. However, If the evaluator concludes that Grier is
incompetent to stand trial but is unable, for whatever
reason, to reach the related issue of restoration, the BOP
should, if feasible, still hold Grier at the evaluation site
so that a competency hearing can promptly be held by
video-conferencing. This will allow the court to order a
restoration evaluation, if appropriate, without first
transporting Grier back to the local district.
C.
Should
the evaluator find Grier competent to proceed, the evaluator
should, if feasible, immediately perform a study of him
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3552(b), to avoid any additional
delay from having to recommit Grier for this study. This
court has held that, where there is a reasonable basis to
believe that a defendant's mental disease or
defect--including a substance-abuse disorder--contributed to
the conduct underlying his or her conviction, the court
should order a mental-health evaluation. See United
States v. Kimbrough, No. 2:07cr260, 2018 WL 989541 (M.D.
Ala. Feb. 20, 2018) (Thompson, J.); see also United
States v. Mosley, 277 F.Supp.3d 1294 (M.D. Ala. 2017)
(Thompson, J.) (discussing the issue of substance-abuse
disorders in further detail). Here, Grier has received a
diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder after serving
multiple tours of duty in the United States Marines and has a
history of using methamphetamines.
Should
Grier be found competent to proceed and be convicted, the
court would order such a study to aid in fashioning an
appropriate sentence, by helping to determine (1) whether and
how Grier's mental disorder(s) should mitigate his
sentence; and (2) what type of treatment, if any, he should
receive during supervised release to prevent further criminal
activity and assist with rehabilitation.[*] The BOP's recommendations
should, therefore, focus on the dual, overlapping issues of
mitigation and treatment: the role, if any, Grier's
mental disorders may have played in his charged conduct, and
what treatment is recommended for him in light of his
individual characteristics and history.
18
U.S.C. § 3552(b) authorizes the court, upon a
defendant's conviction, to order that a pre-sentencing
study be done by the BOP upon the finding of a
“compelling reason” or where there are no
adequate professional resources available in the local
community to perform the study. In this case, the court seeks
a comprehensive, longitudinal evaluation of Grier's
mental health to assess not only whether he suffers from a
substance-abuse disorder and any co-occurring mental
disorders or cognitive deficits, how these disorders
interact, if at all, and to assist in the development of a
specialized treatment plan, in light of his post-traumatic
stress disorder and any other disorders, that will help to
ensure that he does not continue to violate the law. There
are no local resources available that can provide such a
specialized, comprehensive, and longitudinal evaluation in
the local jail, where Grier is currently being detained.
Because there are no adequate professional resources
available at the local jail, and because Grier will already
be in BOP custody for the competency evaluation, the court
need not reach the issue of whether there is a
“compelling reason” for the inpatient study.
D.
In
conclusion, the court wants the BOP to conduct evaluations
determining the following: (1) Grier's competency to
stand trial; (2) if necessary, a restoration evaluation; (3)
how his mental illness or substance-abuse may mitigate his
offense conduct; and (4) what type of treatment, if any, he
should receive during supervised release to assist in his
rehabilitation. All of these evaluations should be conducted
while Grier is at the BOP, in one stay (reasonably prolonged
if necessary and feasible but within the time allowed by
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