People v. Hensley

BARNARD, P. J.

The defendant is charged with a violation of section 288 of the Penal Code on June 8, 1950. He pleaded not guilty and not guilty because of insanity. He with

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drew his plea of not guilty, waiving a jury, and the cause proceeded to trial on July 25, 1950, on the remaining insanity issue.

Two doctors testified that in their opinion the defendant had such a diseased and deranged condition of his mental faculties on June 8, 1950, as to render him incapable of knowing the nature and quality of his acts, or of distinguishing between right and wrong in relation to those acts. On cross-examination it was brought out that the opinion of each doctor was based upon one examination of the defendant and the history given to him by the defendant himself; that the defendant claimed to have no recollection of what transpired at the time the alleged crime was committed; that he is suffering from “psychic equivalents, ’ ’ a type of epilepsy; that persons suffering from this type do not have convulsions but instead have psychic disturbances similar to amnesia; that during such periods, which may last several minutes, they do not know what they are doing; that the defendant had suffered from this for many years and probably would be afflicted with it the rest of his life; that such attacks occur irregularly ; and that they might become less frequent after proper treatment, but might occur even then. Both doctors said the defendant should have the benefit of “encephalographie studies.”

The report of one of these doctors, who had been appointed by the court, was filed. This report states that he examined the defendant on July 6, 1950, at the county jail, and that he appeared intelligent, talked coherently and was able to give a lucid account of his past history. This history, as recited to the doctor, described an unhappy boyhood, four years’ service in the Marines, work in aircraft factories and at March Field, and three and a half years’ service in the Navy with a medical discharge on account of a hip injury received on shipboard. For a year and a half, beginning in 1946, he was a police officer in Riverside. He was married in 1938. He stated that he had peculiar spells from time to time which came on suddenly, lasted a few seconds and were gone. At such times while he was doing one thing he suddenly found himself doing something else, and he told of three such instances prior to 1945. Since 1945, he has been subject to occasional fainting spells, and gave two instances. With respect to the time of the alleged crime he said he awoke at 5:30 p.m., arose, shaved and dressed; that he then had 15 minutes in which to report for work; that before reporting for work he went to the recreation hall and got his 7-year-old daughter to take her