Opinions of the United
2007 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
3-21-2007
In Re:Raphael Mendez
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 07-1113
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Recommended Citation
"In Re:Raphael Mendez " (2007). 2007 Decisions. Paper 1441.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2007/1441
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HLD-63 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
No. 07-1113
________________
IN RE: RAPHAEL MENDEZ,
Petitioner
_______________________________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
District Court for the District of Virgin Islands
(Related to D. V.I. Crim. No. 90-0043-G-01)
_____________________________________
Submitted Under Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
March 9, 2007
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
(Filed: March 21, 2007)
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM.
Pro se petitioner Raphael Mendez seeks a writ of mandamus compelling the
District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands to order his return to the Virgin Islands
for a hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4247(b). Mendez is presently committed at the
Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota (“FMC-Rochester”).
1
In 1990, Mendez was indicted in the Virgin Islands for assault with a deadly
weapon and related offenses. See United States v. Mendez, Crim A. No. 90-0043 (D.
V.I). In 1991, the Virgin Islands District Court found Mendez to be suffering from a
mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to stand trial. Pursuant to
18 U.S.C. § 4241(d), Mendez was committed to the custody of the Attorney General for
treatment at the Mental Health Division of the Federal Correctional Institution at Butner,
North Carolina (“FCI-Butner”).
The warden of FCI-Butner filed a Certificate of Mental Disease or Defect
and Dangerousness and a petition for civil commitment pursuant to § 4246, in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (“District Court”). See
United States v. Raphael Mendez, Civ. A. No. 91-350-HC (E.D. N.C.). In September
1991, the District Court granted the petition and Mendez was committed to the custody of
the Attorney General pursuant to § 4246(d). The District Court ordered Mendez’s
conditional release in 1996. He was re-committed in 2001 and his conditional release
was revoked in November, 2002. Mendez challenged his re-commitment under § 4246,
claiming, among other things, that the District Court lacked jurisdiction because he was
charged with criminal offenses under Virgin Islands Territorial law, not federal law. The
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the District Court on
jurisdictional and substantive grounds.
Mendez has had one hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4247(h), at which the
District Court determined that Mendez met the criteria for continued commitment under §
2
4246. In October 2006, Mendez requested another § 4247(h) hearing, scheduled for
February 6, 2007, at the United States District Court in North Carolina, via teleconference
from the FMC-Rochester. Mendez also filed a pro se motion in the District Court seeking
a change of venue to the Virgin Islands, which the District Court denied on January 17,
2007. Mendez’s appeal of the order denying his motion for change of venue is pending in
the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mendez filed this mandamus petition in December 2006, asserting that the
District Court in the Virgin Islands is the proper court to hold the § 4247(h) hearing
because it has jurisdiction over his criminal indictment. He seeks a writ of mandamus
ordering his transfer to the Virgin Islands for the § 4247(h) hearing.
The writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. To justify the Court’s
use of this remedy, a petitioner must demonstrate that he has a clear and indisputable right
to the writ. Kerr v. United States District Court, 426 U.S. 394, 403 (1976); DeMasi v.
Weiss, 669 F.2d 114, 117 (3d Cir. 1982). Here, Mendez unsuccessfully challenged the
District Court’s jurisdiction to preside over his civil commitment proceedings in 2002. In
accordance with § 4247(h), his hearing is being held in the court that ordered his
commitment. The District Court denied his request for a change of venue to the Virgin
Islands. His appeal from that order is pending in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mendez has not shown that he has a clear and indisputable right to a writ of mandamus
ordering the transfer of the § 4247(d) hearing to the Virgin Islands and, thus, he has not
shown a clear and indisputable right to be transferred to a facility there.
3
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for a writ of mandamus will be
denied.
4