State v. Wolf

2014 UT App 18, 319 P.3d 757, 752 Utah Adv. Rep. 64, 2014 WL 266302, 2014 Utah App. LEXIS 19
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJanuary 24, 2014
DocketNo. 20110726-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2014 UT App 18 (State v. Wolf) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Wolf, 2014 UT App 18, 319 P.3d 757, 752 Utah Adv. Rep. 64, 2014 WL 266302, 2014 Utah App. LEXIS 19 (Utah Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

VOROS, Judge:

{1 Mitchell Edward Wolf stood trial for charges that he stalked and threatened his long-time partner and one of her co-workers. Late at night after the first day of trial, Wolf shot himself in the stomach. When he did not appear in court the next morning, the trial court completed the trial in Wolf's absence. The jury convicted Wolf on all charges. Wolf appeals. We hold that because Wolf's trial counsel raised a bona fide doubt as to Wolf's competency to stand trial, the trial court was required to order a full hearing into Wolf's competency. We vacate Wolf's convictions and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND 2

Wolf's Threats

{2 Wolf and B.W. met in 1980 and began an "off and on" relationship. They moved in [760]*760together and in 1990 had a child. Since 2000, B.W. has been employed at a kitchen equipment supply company.

T3 Wolf and B.W.'s relationship ended in early 2007. According to B.W.'s trial testimony, in a series of phone calls over the following two years, Wolf made threats against B.W., their daughter K.W., and several of B.W.'s co-workers. In April 2008 Wolf called B.W. at work and demanded that she sell her house and quit her job or "all [her] dirty little secrets ... were going to be revealed by 10:00 the next morning." In September 2008, one of Wolfs friends warned B.W. that if she refused to return Wolf's calls, Wolf would "go out in the desert and ... kill himself" and implicate B.W. in his death. When BW. called Wolf and insisted that their relationship was over, Wolf ended the call by saying, "I could be [at your workplace] right now." B.W. and her coworkers then began receiving numerous "prank calls" from someone they believed was Wolf. For a period of about six months, B.W. and her co-workers received approximately twenty phone calls each day in which the caller would either hang up or remain silent.

{4 Wolfs calls to B.W. began to follow a pattern. Each time he called, he said, "[Three things, three things bitch." B.W. testified that the "three things" were quitting her job, selling her house, and giving Wolf his things back. B.W. usually hung up the phone. During one call, though, B.W. asked Wolf, "What are you going to do?" Wolf responded, "[Ylou know what I'm going to do." Wolf made other statements that left B.W. with "serious concerns" for their daughter's safety.

T5 One of B.W.'s co-workers (Co-worker) testified that he received a voicemail from Wolf that accused him of having an "improper relationship" with BW. and made a threatening statement in reference to Coworker's son. In the following months, Coworker received numerous silent phone calls he believed were from Wolf. Finally Coworker obtained a stalking injunction against Wolf. Wolf was not served with the injunetion, however, and the calls continued.

T6 In one telephone conversation, Coworker testified, Wolf threatened Co-worker's family and other employees. According to Co-worker, Wolf said he had "purchased weapons," that he knew how to make an explosive, and that he had rented a room at a hotel near Co-worker's workplace. Co-worker also stated that Wolf had said "he'd seoped out the homes" of other employees, had threatened that "innocents [would] be hurt," and had stated that "when the pain [got] to be too much, he [would] earry out his plan."

Wolf's Trial

T7 Wolf was charged with two counts of making terroristic threats and two counts of stalking. Wolf attended the first day of trial but did not take the stand; he planned to testify the next day. Between midnight and 1:00 a.m. that night, Wolf called 911, identified himself, "stated that he was going to shoot himself in the stomach, [and] indicated he was being accused of doing things he had not done." Police officers found him in a parked car with a handgun and a box of ammunition. He had, in fact, shot himself in the stomach.

[ 8 In court the next morning, Wolf's attorney attempted to explain the situation to the judge:

[Wle have been able to confirm that [police] were involved in a self-inflicted shooting last night at approximately one a.m. Mr. Wolf shot himself in the stomach. He was transported to [a local hospitall. He had ER surgery.... [We were told by his friend ... that they stabilized him.... I was told that he is expected to be there approximately six days [and then] they will take him up to the VA Hospital and keep him on psychiatric observation. I've been told but not confirmed that they will keep him for 30 days there.

Wolfs attorney sought a continuance but assured the court that he would not be moving [761]*761for a mistrial, While acknowledging that defendants who are voluntarily absent can be tried in absentia, Wolf's attorney stated that he believed he "could bring in psychologists who would say that [Wolf shooting himself in the stomach] showed he had gone to a level that ... with his mental illness ... [his absence] isn't truly a voluntary absence."

19 The State opposed a continuance, insisting that "this is [Wolfs] pattern, this is what he does." On "at least two prior occasions," the prosecutor said, "right in anticipation of court and immediately previous to an upcoming court date, [Wolf] would do something in a similar manner, would get involuntarily admitted into a mental institution." The prosecutor characterized Wolf's self-inflicted injury as "just another one of those voluntary delay tactics."

' 10 Before the lunch recess, the trial court stated that it needed to confirm whether Wolf shot himself and that "if it was self-inflicted" it was the court's "determination that [it would] proceed with trial." Based on the upsetting nature of the previous day's proceedings, the court concluded, "[TJhe most likely scenario is ... that he's voluntarily absented himself and we can go forward." Wolf's attorney asked the court to reconsider continuing trial to enable Wolf to receive a psychological evaluation. He also specifically raised the issue of competency:

[Slomeone who ... attempts to commit suicide has indications that he's not competent to proceed.... [Competency is] an issue that can be raised at any time if it becomes apparent [that a defendant's competency is in question,] and at this time I believe ... that [Wolf's] competency is clearly in question and I would ask [that the court] continue this trial so that we can get him properly evaluated for competency.

The court denied the request for a continuance, stating, "[Wle are going to proceed today with the trial in absentia.... Mr. Wolf's threat to take his own life has been persistent throughout all of these proceedings.... This appears to be nothing more than a tactic for delay." The proceedings continued without Wolf, and the court did not explain to the jury why he was absent.

1 11 After the lunch recess, Wolf's attorney again raised the issue of competency:

I went back and reviewed Mr. Wolf's mental health records as well as the docket of this case before I was counsel. There [had] been a petition for competency ... raised [by Wolf's first attorney]. He then retained [his second attorney] who withdrew the petition. Looking through his medical history, I prepared a [second] petition and order for competency....

Wolf's attorney filed a brief competency petition. It closely resembled a competency petition the court had granted two years earlier, but it also included information related to Wolf's self-inflicted gunshot wound, which it characterized as a suicide attempt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 UT App 18, 319 P.3d 757, 752 Utah Adv. Rep. 64, 2014 WL 266302, 2014 Utah App. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wolf-utahctapp-2014.