LAW.coLAW.co

Thomas T. SWISHER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit1964-01-13No. No. 17372
326 F.2d 97

Summary

Holding. The District Court's dismissal order is vacated and the case is remanded to the District Court for a hearing and further proceedings to determine whether Swisher's mental competency to stand trial was constitutionally adjudicated in the military proceeding.

Swisher, a military court-martial convict, petitioned for habeas corpus relief in federal district court, challenging whether he was mentally competent to stand trial. The district court dismissed his petition without conducting a hearing or requiring the government to respond. On appeal, the court examined the record and found that Swisher had raised sufficient factual questions suggesting his trial competency may not have been properly determined by the military tribunal. The court determined it could not finally resolve the competency question based on the existing record and that the matter required further judicial examination.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether a military court-martial prisoner may seek federal habeas corpus review of trial competency claims
  • Whether mental competency at trial was constitutionally determined in the military proceeding
  • Scope of federal habeas review in military cases versus civil cases
  • Procedural requirements for hearing competency challenges in habeas proceedings

Procedural posture

Swisher appealed the District Court's dismissal of his habeas corpus petition challenging his military court-martial conviction on grounds of mental incompetency to stand trial.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM.

The conviction of appellant at court-martial having been affirmed by higher authority, he filed petition for writ of habeas corpus in the District Court, rais? ing the question of his mental competency to stand trial on the charges preferred against him. The District Court dismissed appellant’s petition for a writ, without requiring response to be made thereto by the Warden of the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, at Springfield, Missouri, where appellant is presently confined. We granted leave to appeal in forma pauperis “ * * * for the purpose of settling the question of Swisher’s right to a hearing on his mental capacity, and of attempting to put an end to his continuous applications for a writ in the District Court and his repetitive applications for a writ of mandamus” and previous request for leave to appeal in forma pauperis.

We have carefully reviewed the record in this appeal in the light of the ex parte records before us. Our conclusion is that appellant has set forth therein some factors which give facial indication of a possible issue existing, that his mental competency to stand trial may not have been constitutionally adjudicated at his court-martial. We cannot presently dispose of that possible issue with finality on the basis of the record before us. That the issue of “mental competency at the time of the offense and at the time of trial are entirely different questions of fact” is cogently recognized by the District Court in its opinion, supra, 211 F. Supp. at 1. c. 918.

In Hayes v. United States, 8 Cir., 305 F.2d 540, at 543, we had occasion to say:

“In Bishop v. United States, 350 U.S. 961, 76 S.Ct. 440, 100 L.Ed. 835, the Supreme Court summarily vacated a District Court’s denial of a § 2255 motion and the Court of Appeals’ affirmance thereof, * * * where the question of trial competency had been disposed of on the basis of the motion to vacate, the record of the trial proceedings, and, some affidavits appearing in the court files. The case was remanded to the District Court for a hearing on the competency question.”

A like remand was made by us in the Hayes case, supra. That a 2255 motion has affinity to an application for writ of habeas corpus by non-federal court prisoners is recognized in Heflin v. United States, 358 U.S. 415, 79 S.Ct. 451, 3 L.Ed.2d 407.

In Burns v. Wilson, 346 U.S. 137, at 1. c. 139, 73 S.Ct. 1045, at 1. c. 1047, 97 L.Ed. 1508, it is said:

“The statute which vests federal courts with jurisdiction over applications for habeas corpus from persons confined by the military courts is the same statute which vests them with jurisdiction over the applications of persons confined by the civil courts. But in military habeas corpus the inquiry, the scope of matters open for review, has always been more narrow than in civil cases.”

“(T)he scope of matters open for review” in the instant habeas corpus proceeding is limited by appellant to the issue of his competency to stand trial before his court-martial. His previous and instant application for a writ of habeas corpus have been self-prepared. He is now represented by retained counsel. Seemingly, as far as we can presently ascertain, appellant has exhausted all provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (10 U.S.C.A. Chap. 47) for making collateral attack against his conviction and sentence on the ground that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. Cf. Hiatt v. Brown, 339 U.S. 103, 70 S.Ct. 495, 94 L.Ed. 691; Gusik v. Schilder, 340 U.S. 128, 71 S.Ct. 149, 95 L.Ed. 146 (1950). Whether a “fair determination by the military tribunal” has been made as to that issue is a question that cannot, and should not, be resolved by us on the present record. Cf. Whelchel v. McDonald, 340 U.S. 122, 71 S.Ct. 146, 95 L. Ed. 141 (1950).

The order dismissing appellant’s latest application for writ of habeas corpus is hereby vacated. This case is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings in accordance with due process of law.

. Swisher v. United States, 211 F.Supp. 917 (W.D.Mo.1962).

. In the case at bar we appointed Wyman Wiekersham, Esq, of Kansas City, Missouri, Bar, to represent appellant as an indigent defendant. Compatible with his obligation as a member of the Bar of this Court to so act, Mr. Wiekersham willingly accepted such appointment. Subsequent thereto, appellant’s parents made arrange-meats to retain Mr. Wiekersham and paid him a fee. Before accepting the same, he informed the Clerk of this Court of bis retainer. As a consequence, we revoked his in forma pauperis appointment. He now appears in this appeal as retained counsel.