Here's Michael Doyle's article yesterday for the McClatchy Newspapers on the Ninth Circuit's denial of rehearing and rehearing en banc from this panel Opinion dismissing an appeal from an order refusing to seal competency proceedings in a capital case out of Fresno. The excerpt below includes a quote from me:
The mental competency of an inmate who’s accused of killing a federal prison guard at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater in California now can be tested, under a finalized appellate-court decision that moves the long-delayed death penalty case a little closer to resolution.
Without comment, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week formally ratified a prior decision rejecting James Ninete Leon Guerrero’s efforts to keep his competency hearing under seal. The decision means Leon Guerrero’s hearing can proceed, with the testimony open to his co-defendant’s attorneys as well as to reporters and the public.
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But the decision worries some defense attorneys, including those who aren’t involved in the case.
“Competency hearings typically involve highly sensitive materials, which may include mental health and sex abuse information concerning not only the defendant, but family members and friends as well,” Sacramento-based defense attorney John Balazs, who isn’t involved with the Atwater case, said Friday. “Once this information is disclosed, the bell cannot be un-rung.”
See also my 5/29/12 post and 9/12/12 post.