Case: 22-30795 Document: 00516800147 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/26/2023
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
____________ United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 22-30795
FILED
June 26, 2023
____________
Lyle W. Cayce
United States of America, Clerk
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Anotche Wix,
Defendant—Appellant.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana
USDC No. 2:08-CR-76-2
______________________________
Before Higginbotham, Graves, and Douglas, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Before the court is an appeal of a final judgment revoking Anotche
Wix’s term of supervised release and imposing an additional fourteen-month
term of imprisonment. Both the Government and Wix agree that the district
court erred in this matter by failing to order a competency hearing prior to
revoking Wix’s supervised release. We agree and VACATE the district
court’s order and REMAND the case.
_____________________
*
This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-30795 Document: 00516800147 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/26/2023
No. 22-30795
Factual Background
After a two-day jury trial in 2009, Wix was found guilty of attempted
bank robbery or aiding and abetting attempted bank robbery under 18 U.S.C.
§ 2113(a) and 2113(d) (Count 1); using and carrying or aiding and abetting in
the using and carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of
violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) (Count 2); and conspiracy to use
and carry a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence under 18
U.S.C. § 924(o) (Count 3). The district court sentenced Wix to concurrent
sentences of 95 months’ imprisonment on Counts 1 and 3; a consecutive 84
months’ imprisonment on Count 2; and 5 years’ supervised release on
Counts 1 and 2, coupled with a concurrent 3 years’ supervised release on
Count 3. Wix’s supervised release conditions included drug testing and
mental health treatment as directed by his probation officer. Wix’s term of
supervised release began on June 30, 2021.
In November 2022, the Government filed an Amended Rule to
Revoke Supervised Release. The Government contended that Wix’s mental
health began to deteriorate by September 2022, and that he was no longer
complying with mental health treatment or random drug testing. The district
court set a December 2022 hearing where it heard testimony of U.S.
Probation Officer Tiresha Fairley. Appellant testified on his own behalf.
During the revocation hearing, the Government, Wix’s standby counsel, and
the district court judge agreed that Wix needed a psychiatric evaluation. The
only person who disagreed with this assessment was Wix. At the conclusion
of the proceedings, the district court revoked Wix’s release and remanded
him to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons with specific instructions that he
receive mental health treatment.
Discussion
Under 18 U.S.C. § 4241, a district court
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No. 22-30795
shall order [a competency] hearing on its own
motion, if there is reasonable cause to believe
that the defendant may presently be suffering
from a mental disease or defect rendering him
mentally incompetent to the extent that he is
unable to understand the nature and
consequences of the proceedings against him or
to assist properly in his defense.
See also United States v. Davis, 61 F.3d 291, 304 (5th Cir. 1995). Section 4241
has been applied to revocation hearings. See e.g., United States v. Blake, 606
F. App’x 243–244 (5th Cir. 2015) (unpublished) (per curiam). This court
reviews for abuse of discretion whether a district court erred in failing to sua
sponte order a competency hearing. Id. (citing Davis, 61 F.3d at 303).
“The record contains evidence that would have given the district
court reasonable cause to believe that [Wix] might be unable to meet the
standard of competence to proceed with the revocation proceeding.” Id. at
244. During the hearing, the district court concluded that “[a]ll of us agree,
except perhaps Mr. Wix, that he really does need a psychiatric evaluation.”
The district court then acknowledged that Wix had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia and paranoid delusions. The district court stated that “[i]t
seems to be a—and it’s not the fault of anybody here, the Government,
Probation, Defense, that we have, I’ll say a gap in the law, of uncertainty here
on—because obviously his doctor says that he needs psychiatric evaluation,
okay.” Based on the facts and circumstances noted by the district court, a
competency hearing was required under § 4241.
Conclusion
The revocation sentence is VACATED. This case is REMANDED
to the district court with instructions to hold a competency hearing under 18
§ 4241.
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