Riggleman v. State

Melvin, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. On November 14, 1975, the appellant, Harry Edward Riggleman, Sr., was brought to trial before a jury in the Circuit Court for Allegany County on a two-count criminal information charging him with larceny of two automobiles. He was found guilty on each count and received a three year sentence on each count, to be served consecutively. He seeks reversal of the judgments of conviction on three grounds.

Because we shall reverse the judgments of conviction and remand the case for a new trial we need only consider two: 1) the sufficiency of the evidence, and 2) the propriety of the court’s action in striking appellant’s insanity plea. Sufficiency of the Evidence The evidence was clearly sufficient to support the convictions. Appellant’s statements to a State Trooper that he did indeed steal the automobiles were received in evidence without objection. There was ample corroboration of the corpus delicti.

The Plea of Insanity The criminal information was filed on June 26, 1975. When appellant was arraigned on July 2,1975, he filed as his only plea the following written “Plea of Insanity”: “For pleas to the informations [sic] in the above ³⁴⁶ cases [sic], the defendant, Harry E. Riggleman, pursuant to Article 59, Section 23 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, alleges that he was insane at the time of the commission of the alleged crimes”. (Emphasis added.) On the same date, July 2, 1975, the court signed an order (obviously submitted by appellant’s counsel) committing appellant “to Springfield State Hospital. . . for the purpose of undergoing a complete psychiatric examination and evaluation by the medical staff of said hospital”. It was further ordered “that a complete psychiatric report will be prepared by said medical staff from the basis of said examination and evaluation in accordance with the provisions of Article 59, Section 23 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.” (Emphasis added.) 1 Under the judge’s signature on the order appears this handwritten statement: “This man is a high security risk.

Please take proper precautions to detain him”. As the judge later remarked, “. . . [N]o such precautions were apparently taken”. On November 5, 1975, the State filed a “Motion for Appropriate Relief’ asking the court to “dismiss the Insanity plea” or in the alternative to “grant that relief which the Court deems appropriate in the premises”. The motion alleged the following: “1.

On June 5, 1975, HARRY EDWARD RIGGLEMAN, SR., hereinafter referred to as Defendant, was arrested and charged with two counts of larceny of motor vehicle. On or about June 26, 1975, following a preliminary hearing, an information charging said offenses was filed in this Honorable Court. 2. On July 2, 1975, the Defendant was arraigned ³⁴⁷ and entered pleas of insanity in these cases. On the same dates, the Court signed an order committing the Defendant to Springfield State Hospital for examination and report (the State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene having indicated the examination had to be conducted there).

On July 3, 1975, the Defendant was transported to Springfield Hospital for psychiatric examination. On or about July 4, 1975, the Defendant escaped from the hospital. On August 16, 1975, the Defendant was returned to Springfield by a police officer. On August 18, 1975, the Defendant fled, having escaped for the second time.

Due to the Defendant’s having removed himself, no examination was conducted. On or about September 18, 1975, the Defendant was apprehended by Pennsylvania authorities and incarcerated in the Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Jail. The Defendant refused to waive extradition unless the State agreed to return him to Springfield State Hospital which the State declined to do, and was returned to this jurisdiction on October 14, 1975, following an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania. 3. The State has attempted, without success at this time, to arrange a psychiatric examination in Allegany County by a private psychiatrist who would be paid by the State. 4.

At no time has the Defendant adduced any evidence which would provide a basis for an insanity plea. The State alleges the plea in this case is frivolous, being without any factual basis, and is pursued for the purpose of delay or further escape. This case has been scheduled for trial in this Honorable Court on November 14,1975. WHEREFORE, your Petitioner prays the Court to conduct a hearing and grant the appropriate relief requested.” On November 5, 1975, a copy of the motion was served on appellant at the Allegany County jail and a copy mailed to ³⁴⁸ his counsel.

A hearing on the motion was held two days later on November 7. At the hearing, the State’s Attorney recited to the court the allegations in the motion and announced that appellant’s counsel had “indicated that . . . the Defendant agrees ... to the chronology when he was taken to Springfield, when he left, when he returned and when he left again. The other matters that we allege . . . are matters of record with regard to the placing of the charges”. He concluded his opening remarks by saying, “I have no particular evidence that we would adduce at this time.

We do have law that we would like to bring to the Court’s attention”. At this point, appellant’s counsel said to the court: “MR. SCHINDLER: If Your Honor please, the Defendant is still claiming and wants to maintain his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. And my information from the Defendant at this time is that Dr. Franklin was supposed to have examined him yesterday.

The date for the examination has been postponed until Monday. BY THE COURT: Doctor who? MR. SCHINDLER: Franklin.

I would like to request Your Honor’s permission .... I feel that I ought to have the Defendant on the witness stand and ask him some questions as to why he wants to maintain his plea of insanity and so forth. The Defense feels, counsel feels that we should be accorded the right to have the Defendant take the witness stand and answer various questions. BY THE COURT: All right.” In his testimony, appellant denied the allegation that he “refused to waive extradition unless the State agreed to return him to Springfield”, saying that he only “told them I would not come back to Maryland”.

He also testified that he had an appointment with Dr. Franklin on November 10; that Dr. Franklin, who he said was “an ear, nose and throat specialist”, had told him that he had “an abcess down under the ear drum, the inner ear drum, that puts pressure on the ³⁴⁹ brain” and that was why he filed his plea of insanity; that he had “been in the hospital for blacking out spells”; that he has had nine “blackout spells” since 1974; and that he escaped from Springfield because he “was more or less afraid that they would go cutting on me down there”. It appears that when appellant was returned to Maryland on October 14, 1975, following his second escape on August 18, 1975, he was not returned to Springfield State Hospital, but to the Allegany County jail. There is nothing in the record authorizing his transfer from the hospital to the jail. Presumably the State did not wish him to return to Springfield for fear he might again escape.

The court asked the State’s Attorney, “Would it be feasible or possible to have the Defendant examined by a local psychiatrist in custody here, Mr. Kelly?” Mr. Kelly (the State’s Attorney for Allegany County) answered: “I might say with regard to that, Your Honor, that the State has been working for approximately two months, not generally with Mr. Riggleman’s case, although this points out dramatically the failure in our whole — in the structure of things. That is, committing people to Springfield. We’ve had I believe this year five individuals committed, of which four have escaped, Mr. Riggleman being one. I have attempted to do that.

At this point we have no psychiatrists that will agree to that. I’m hopeful that in the future, the immediate future hopefully, that we will be in such position. But, frankly, Your Honor, we would in Mr. Riggleman’s case rely simply on the fact that his case has been handled as cases since the beginning of time in Allegany County. And, frankly, while we’re willing to change the system generally, I’m not particularly willing to change the system to meet Mr. Riggleman’s particular situation.

And we would rely on the state of the case as it presently is. Although, frankly, we hope in a month or so to be in a position where we can conduct our own mental ³⁵⁰ examinations here in Allegany County rather than to rely on the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. But at this time that simply isn’t true, Your Honor.” At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing judge granted the motion to strike, giving as his reasons: 1) The “only purpose of [appellant’s] seeking confinement at Springfield is for the purpose of evading and avoiding the trial on the merits, and that the Defendant doesn’t sincerely and genuinely seek any psychiatric examination and evaluation to determine his mental condition”; 2) “. . . [T]he statement that he’s been seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist who says he has some kind of difficulty with his inner ear would not be evidence on which any plea of insanity could be accepted. It has to be by psychiatric evaluation”; and 3) “I think the Defendant is merely attempting to evade and avoid trial on the merits”.

The appellant was then re-arraigned. He was asked by the clerk, “What is your plea guilty or not guilty? ” He answered, “Not guilty” and elected a jury trial. Before determining the correctness of striking the appellant’s insanity plea, it should be helpful to briefly review the nature of an insanity plea and the procedures to be followed when such a plea is filed. Md. Rule 720 provides that an accused “may plead . . . not guilty by reason of insanity as provided by statute . . . .” The subsequent adoption of Md. Code Art. 59, § 25 (b) (formerly § 9 (b)) designates the plea as to insanity as a “plea in writing in addition to the plea or pleas otherwise required or permitted by law, alleging that the defendant was insane at the time of the commission of the alleged crime” and requires that such a plea be filed “[w]hen it is desired to interpose the defense of insanity”. 2 The court may not refuse to accept the plea, and once filed, may not strike it out — any more than the court could strike out a not guilty plea.

Indeed, once an insanity plea is filed, both trial ³⁵¹ counsel and the court have a responsibility to see that it is not improvidently withdrawn, even at the request of an accused. See Walker v. State, 21 Md. App. 666 (1974) and White v. State, 17 Md. App. 58 (1973). As pointed out by this Court in White v. State, supra, at 61-62: “ . . . [A] plea of insanity is no more than the assertion of an affirmative defense. The defense is not any different in its basic nature than other affirmative defenses, such as self-defense or coercion ....

Like any defense, the question of whether an insanity defense should be raised remains a matter of trial strategy to be determined by counsel after consultation with his client”. Article 59, § 25 (b) of the Code specifies how and when the defense of insanity is to be raised and the procedural consequences that follow: “ . . . The judge of the court in which such warrant, indictment or information is pending and in which such plea of insanity has been entered shall have full power and authority to order an examination of the mental condition of such person by the Department of Mental Hygiene,