State Ex Rel. Ott v. Cushing

617 P.2d 610, 289 Or. 695
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 7, 1980
Docket80-522-C SC 27199
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 617 P.2d 610 (State Ex Rel. Ott v. Cushing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Ott v. Cushing, 617 P.2d 610, 289 Or. 695 (Or. 1980).

Opinion

617 P.2d 610 (1980)
289 Or. 695

STATE of Oregon ex rel. Calvin Roy Ott, Plaintiff-Relator,
v.
L.A. CUSHING, As Circuit Judge of the State of Oregon for Josephine County, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 80-522-C; SC 27199.

Supreme Court of Oregon, In Banc.[*]

Argued and Submitted September 9, 1980.
Decided October 7, 1980.

*611 Donald F. Myrick, Grants Pass, argued the cause and filed the brief for plaintiff-relator.

William F. Gary, Deputy Sol. Gen., Salem, argued the cause for defendant-respondent. With him on the brief were James M. Brown, Atty. Gen., and John R. McCulloch, Jr., Sol. Gen., Salem.

TONGUE, Justice.

This is a mandamus proceeding in which the petitioner, who is the defendant in a *612 criminal prosecution for the crime of murder, seeks to modify an order issued by the respondent, the trial judge before whom that proceeding is pending, which directed the defendant to submit to a psychiatric examination under conditions specified by the terms of that order.

Both attorneys for petitioner and attorneys for the State of Oregon, who represent the respondent, agree that the order in question was prepared in an effort to comply with the requirements of ORS 161.315[1] and also with the requirements of the rule stated by this court in Shepard v. Bowe, 250 Or. 288, 442 P.2d 238 (1968),[2] and that the validity of the rule as stated in that case is not in issue in this proceeding, despite subsequent doubts expressed by members of this court in State ex rel. Johnson v. Woodrich, 279 Or. 31, 566 P.2d 859 (1977).[3]

For that reason and because both the trial of the petitioner and his psychiatric examination preceding that trial have been postponed awaiting a decision by this court in this proceeding, we shall limit our opinion to a brief discussion of petitioner's objections to the terms of that order. The order provides as follows:

"(1) IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Defendant submit to a psychiatric examination by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson on August 5, 1980, at the hour of 10:30 O'clock A.M., in his office located at 2951 Doctor's Park Drive in Medford, Oregon.
"(2) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Dr. Thompson advise the Defendant that he is conducting the examination for and on behalf of the State of Oregon; that he is not examining Defendant for purposes of treatment and that the Defendant need not answer any questions concerning his acts or conduct at or immediately near the time of the commission of the offense. `At or immediately near the time of the commission of the offense' includes any acts or conduct bearing a proximate connection to the crime charged or of any other crime which acts *613 or conduct could in any way tend to incriminate the Defendant; by incrimination is meant any statement concerning any acts or conduct which involve him in the crime charged or any other crime;
"(3) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Defendant is to answer all questions asked of him by Dr. Thompson and/or perform any tests given in the course of the usual psychiatric examination except as heretofore limited by specification II; and
"(4) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Donald F. Myrick, Defendant's attorney may be present at the examination and may advise the Defendant that he need not answer questions put to him by Dr. Thompson that fall within the limitations of specification II, but Donald F. Myrick is ordered not to advise the Defendant to remain silent to questions asked by Dr. Thompson which do not fall within the limitations of specification II; and
"(5) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if the Defendant or his attorney fail to act in accordance with the terms of this Order, in addition to any other sactions (sic), the Defendant shall not be entitled to introduce expert testimony on behalf of the Defendant on the issue of extreme emotional disturbance."

Petitioner's first objection to the order is that:

"a. The Order is permissive and not mandatory as to the attendance of petitioner's attorney at the psychiatric examination; and if such attorney did not attend, leaves the client at his peril, without effective representation, to determine which questions of the interrogator are, and which are not, incriminatory."

This court has not previously addressed the question of whether there is a right of either counsel to be present at a pretrial psychiatric examination concerning the defense of lack of responsibility due to mental defect.[4] Assuming, without deciding, that such a right exists, we are of the opinion that the right to effective counsel is adequately protected by a provision in the order permitting the defendant to have his attorney present at such examination and that there is no good reason to compel the attendance of his attorney at the examination.

Moreover, the right of a defendant to the assistance of counsel carries with it the correlative right to dispense with such assistance. Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 807, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975). To require that the defendant's counsel be present at the psychiatric examination would violate this right. There may also be tactical reasons why a defendant would prefer to attend a psychiatric examination without the presence of his counsel. To compel the attendance of defendant's counsel might thus unnecessarily limit the defendant's own freedom in choosing an appropriate course of action for defending himself.

For these reasons, we believe the order is proper in permitting, but not requiring, defendant's counsel to be present at the examination.

Petitioner's second objection is that:

"b. If petitioner's attorney does attend the psychiatric examination, it puts such attorney for the defendant in peril of himself being adjudged guilty of contempt if he should erroneously advise silence to his client where there is error in judgment as to the incriminatory nature of the question; and therefore such attorney cannot properly discharge representation for his client as he could do if objections to questions were posed, and ruled upon, in a judicial forum."

We agree with petitioner's contention that his right to effective assistance by counsel may be impaired if his counsel is under a direct order "not to advise the defendant to remain silent to questions asked by Dr. Thompson which do not fall within the limitations of specification II," or be subject to possible punishment for contempt of court. That provision of the order not only might well result in a possible *614 "chilling effect" upon counsel in his effort to properly advise the defendant, but is also overly broad in that there may be questions other than those foreclosed by specification II which may be improper. This would place defendant's counsel in a difficult position when confronted by an improper question, but one which he has been ordered by the court not to advise the defendant not to answer.

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Related

State Ex Rel. Russell v. Jones
647 P.2d 904 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
617 P.2d 610, 289 Or. 695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-ott-v-cushing-or-1980.