In re Khamvongsa

697 A.2d 19, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 135, 1997 WL 353072
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 19, 1997
DocketNo. 95-FM-153
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 697 A.2d 19 (In re Khamvongsa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Khamvongsa, 697 A.2d 19, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 135, 1997 WL 353072 (D.C. 1997).

Opinion

WAGNER, Chief Judge:

Appellant, Chantharangsy Khamvongsa, a prison inmate, while serving a sentence, was transferred to St. Elizabeths Hospital on an emergency basis under the provisions of D.C.Code § 24-302 (1996) and Super. Ct. Ment. H.R. 9(j) (1996). The trial court dismissed the petition for Khamvongsa’s hospitalization and ordered his return to the Department of Corrections forthwith. When he was not returned immediately, he wrote a letter to an assistant corporation counsel assigned to the hospital, with a copy to the Superior Court, demanding his immediate release and a “true copy of the warrant of commitment or detainer” holding him at the hospital, or alternatively that, “the Commissioner ‘forfeit’ to [him] the sum of $500” pursuant to D.C.Code § 16-1905 (1996). In this appeal, Khamvongsa challenges the trial court’s determination that he was not enti-[21]*21tied to forfeiture by the District of Columbia under the statute because there is no warrant or detainer which could be produced and he had been provided with the documents which resulted in his emergency transfer. We affirm.

I.

Khamvongsa was committed to the District of Columbia Department of Corrections on July 8, 1994 to serve a sentence of fifteen years to life for second degree murder while armed. Upon certification of a psychiatrist that Khamvongsa was mentally ill, and by reason thereof, likely to injure himself or cause substantial disruption to the prison routine, on October 28, 1994, he was transferred to St. Elizabeths Hospital on an emergency basis pursuant to D.C.Code § 24-302 and Super. Ct. Ment. H.R. 9(j). On October 31,1994, the Deputy Director for Institutions filed with the Superior Court a Petition for Transfer of Khamvongsa, attaching a certificate of a psychiatrist in support thereof in accordance with D.C.Code § 24-302. In the certificate, the psychiatrist expressed the opinion that Khamvongsa was suffering from a mental illness, schizophrenia, and also stated that he appeared to be “... severely depressed and out of touch with reality.” The psychiatrist further certified that Kham-vongsa was overtly psychotic and at risk for suicide and that “[tjransfer to a psychiatric hospital is imperative for evaluation and treatment.”

On November 2, 1994, the trial court entered an order appointing counsel for Kham-vongsa and scheduling a hearing on the petition for November 4, 1994. Copies of the pleadings for emergency hospitalization and the court’s order were mailed by the Clerk of the Court to all of the parties. At the hearing on November 7, 1994, the court granted Khamvongsa’s motion to dismiss the petition and ordered the United States Marshal’s Service to return him to the Department of Corrections “forthwith.” However, the Marshal’s Service returned him to the hospital instead.

The next day, counsel for Khamvongsa sent a letter to the assistant corporation counsel assigned to the Mental Health Division at the hospital, with a copy to the court, informing him that he had not been returned to the Department of Corrections. Kham-vongsa’s attorney requested on his behalf his immediate release and a “true copy of the warrant of commitment or detainer now holding him at John Howard Pavilion within six hours or that the Commission forfeit to [Mr. Khamvongsa] the sum of $500 pursuant to D.C.Code § 16-1905.” That same day, the court issued a release order for Kham-vongsa’s transfer to the Department of Corrections. When the transfer was not effectuated by November 9, 1994, the trial court entered another order for the U.S. Marshal’s Service to transfer him forthwith from St. Elizabeths to the Department of Corrections.1 Khamvongsa was finally transferred that day in accordance with the order.

Thereafter, the trial court considered and denied Khamvongsa’s request for forfeiture pursuant to D.C.Code § 16-1905. In its written order, the trial court reasoned that, although respondent had made a demand for a copy of the warrant or detainer holding him at the hospital, there was no such document and that he had received copies of the Petition for Transfer and the supporting certificate of the psychiatrist.

II.

Khamvongsa argues that the trial court erred in denying his request for forfeiture pursuant to D.C.Code § 16-1905 since he did not receive a copy of the warrant of commitment or detainer holding him at John Howard Pavilion within six hours after his demand. D.C.Code § 16-1905 provides that:

A person committed or detained, or a person in his behalf, may demand a time copy of the warrant of commitment or detainer. An officer or other person detaining a person, who refuses or neglects to deliver [22]*22to him or to a person in his behalf a true copy of the warrant of commitment or detainer, if one exists, within six hours after the demand, shall forfeit to the party so detained the sum of $500.

(Emphasis added.) This provision is among those which govern habeas corpus proceedings, under which a detainee may test the legality of confinement. See Christian v. United States, 394 A.2d 1, 48 (D.C.1978); Austin v. United States, 299 A.2d 545, 548 (D.C.1973). The purpose of § 1905 necessarily is to assure that the detainee is informed promptly of the basis for the detention. However, the express language of § 1905 makes forfeiture available against the' officer or person holding the claimant only where a warrant of commitment or detainer exists which is withheld. Here, no warrant or de-tainer for Khamvongsa’s confinement at St. Elizabeths existed which was withheld.

Khamvongsa was transferred to the hospital on an emergency basis in accordance with D.C.Code § 24-302 and Super. Ct. Ment. H.R. 9(j). Section 24-302 provides for the emergency transfer of a prisoner, who is serving a sentence, to a hospital for care and treatment upon certification by a psychiatrist, designated pursuant to statute, that the prisoner is mentally -ill.2 The psychiatrist’s certification under the statute is sufficient to authorize the emergency transfer. D.C.Code § 24-302. The procedures for a prisoner’s transfer to a mental hospital are set forth in Super. Ct. Ment. H.R. 9. The prisoner is entitled to notice and a hearing, including a jury trial if requested. In re Hurt, 437 A.2d 590, 591 n. 2 (citing Matthews v. Hardy, 137 U.S.App. D.C.

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Bluebook (online)
697 A.2d 19, 1997 D.C. App. LEXIS 135, 1997 WL 353072, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-khamvongsa-dc-1997.