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State v. Bostwick9/30/1999
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, In and for the County of Cascade, The Honorable Kenneth R. Neill, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: April 1, 1999
Clerk Justice Karla M. Gray
Robert Bostwick (Bostwick) appeals from the judgment and sentence entered by the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County, on a jury verdict finding him guilty of two counts of felony criminal endangerment. We remand for further proceedings.
The dispositive issue on appeal is whether the District Court erred in denying Bostwick a competency hearing.
BACKGROUND
On May 22, 1996, the State of Montana (State) charged Bostwick by information with two counts of felony criminal endangerment in violation of § 45-5-207(1), MCA (1995). The charges stemmed from an automobile accident on May 11, 1996, in which Bostwick wrecked a vehicle while driving through a residential area at over 60 miles per hour with a blood alcohol content of .18.
Bostwick pled not guilty to the charges and, at the omnibus hearing, notified the State that he would not rely on a mental disease or defect defense. In August of 1997, Bostwick moved for a mental health examination to determine whether he was fit to proceed to trial pursuant to § 46-14-202, MCA (1995). The District Court granted the motion.
Patrick Davis, Ph.D. (Dr. Davis), a clinical psychologist, met with Bostwick four times in August of 1997, and conducted a series of tests and interviews. Based on those tests and interviews, Dr. Davis prepared a seven-page report (the Davis Report) which noted a number of knowledge deficits but also itemized at length Bostwick's reasonably good understanding of many of the facts and issues related to his case. The Davis Report also stated that Bostwick appeared to have the capacity to make necessary decisions about his case but "has chosen to defer such decision making to his mother." Dr. Davis ultimately opined that Bostwick was fit to proceed to trial provided certain accommodations were made at trial to allow for his slow thought processes. He further opined that Bostwick's competence to proceed would be maintained only if his mother were competent to make decisions about his case.
Bostwick's counsel moved for a competency hearing, arguing that the Davis Report constituted substantial evidence that Bostwick might not be fit to proceed to trial. The State responded that a competency hearing was not necessary because Dr. Davis found Bostwick fit to proceed.
The District Court concluded that, because neither party contested the Davis Report findings, § 46-14-221, MCA (1995), authorized it to make a competence determination without holding a hearing. With regard to Dr. Davis' statement that Bostwick's competence would be maintained only if his mother were competent, the court observed that who Bostwick looked to for advice was not a legitimate consideration in its determination of whether Bostwick was competent. Based on the Davis Report, the District Court concluded that Bostwick was fit to proceed to trial and scheduled a final pretrial conference hearing to consider, among other things, what accommodations should be made during trial for Bostwick's slow assimilation of information.
During the pretrial conference hearing, Bostwick renewed his motion for a competency hearing. He relied on our recent decision in State v. Bartlett (1997), 282 Mont. 114, 935 P.2d 1114, arguing that due process required a hearing because sufficient doubt existed regarding Bostwick's fitness to proceed to trial. The District Court denied Bostwick's renewed motion without comment.
Bost
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