State v. Green

643 S.W.2d 902 (1982)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Police found the body of Officer Harry Wilcox lying face down in a pool of blood. He had been shot twice in the head, and his police revolver was missing. Officers found a plastic bag containing a note. It was addressed Agent Ray Hanrahan of the FBI, contained a meaningless string of words and phrases, including reference to an 'oustograph.' Green (D) was arrested two days later, notes found on D that had been torn into pieces referenced 'Ray Hanrahan, Commercial Union Bank, West 7th Street,' to 'Mr. Dime' and to an 'oustograph.' These were the same meaningless words found on the dead police officer. FBI agent Hanrahan, who had talked to D a few weeks before the murder and whose notes of their conversation included Green's name. D had come to the FBI office and told the agent that some people in New York were talking to him, sending messages to his brain, and 'directing' him. D said a doctor in New York had invented a machine called an 'oustograph' or 'ousiograph' that could detect these matters. Hanrahan said he thought D 'had [mental] problems,' and he suggested to Green at the time that he go to Erlanger Hospital to seek help. D had first received psychiatric treatment at the age of seven when as a child in New York City he was suspended from school for picking fights with other children 'for no reason at all . . ., beating them up really viciously.' After two years of treatment, D was pronounced 'all right' but warned that the condition could recur during his teenage years. At age twelve, D attacked his mother with a knife and again received psychiatric treatment. By sixteen, D had become a loner. He refused to go to school, remained in bed all day, and stayed out all night. He refused to bathe. He would not talk to anyone, and when spoken to, he would not respond or would laugh hysterically. D carried a bag around with him, explaining to his parents that the bag 'kept him company.' He complained that the television talked back at him. D was hospitalized for more than a month in 1968. That was terminated because of lack of money and D was transferred to an outpatient clinic. D was heavily medicated and 'was just like a zombie.' Eventually D stopped taking the medicine and refused to visit the out-patient clinic. D enrolled in a Navy reserve program, returned to school, and managed to graduate from high school in June 1978. D reported for Navy training, but was discharged for a failure to adapt to regulations. D returned home and stayed in bed during the day and walked the streets at night. He had a fight with his brother and cut him on the leg with a knife. He said that other people in the apartment building had a machine that tampered with his brain. He felt that the television talked back at him; he thought people talked about him; and he was suspicious whenever the telephone rang. D would not bathe or change his clothes. Toward the end of August 1978, he stole the family's household money and left home. D then stayed with an uncle and continued his bizarre behavior. D would also laugh at inappropriate times, and would stare into space and move his mouth without saying anything. D visited a mental health clinic, but each time he refused to cooperate with the doctors. The medical staff told his family that because D had not yet exhibited violent tendencies, he could not be hospitalized involuntarily. D was asked to leave when his uncle feared for the safety of his young children and asked his nephew to leave. D stayed with a nearby aunt but she feared for her life and asked that her brother, D's father, come and get him. D insisted that he did not need treatment and refused to return to New York. His father bought him a pair of shoes, paid for a hotel room for him, and gave him some money. D was able to function when his father left him but he 'still was not right.' Two months later, D was arrested and charged with the Wilcox murder. His father came to Chattanooga at that time and visited D in jail. He noticed a marked deterioration in his son's condition. D was 'agitated' and 'mumbled' continually to himself. D's lawyer had trouble communicating with D and asked for a psychiatric examination. D was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, a condition which is characterized by irrational thinking, feelings inappropriate to the situation, an overly suspicious nature, hostility, and delusions of grandeur and persecution. In July 1979 D was found to be incompetent to stand trial. By December 1979 D had improved to the point that the staff considered him competent to stand trial, but he was diagnosed in February 1980 as being paranoid schizophrenic, in only 'partial remission,' and still in need of hospitalization in a secure facility. By May 1980, however, he was found to be 'greatly improved,' his paranoid schizophrenia was noted as being in remission, and the hospital staff recommended that he be returned to Chattanooga for trial. At trial, a parade of law witnesses testified about D's past. Several expert witnesses testified and stated that D was insane. P offered no corresponding expert testimony to refute it. There was overwhelming evidence of D's insanity. Rebuttal evidence consisted of testimony by five Chattanooga police officers and a former county employee. They noticed nothing out of the ordinary other than D was dirty and smelled. P tried to establish that D was faking his symptoms, or, in the alternative, that his psychosis was the result of the Wilcox killing and not its cause. P offered virtually no evidence at trial to establish that D could appreciate the nature of his conduct or control it at will. P relied solely on testimony that Green was not suffering from mental incapacity at the time of the offense. D was convicted of murder and appealed.