Bush v. Texas

Background

An indigent man was convicted of felony theft and, after proof of two earlier theft convictions, was sentenced to life as a habitual offender. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. The man had been adjudged insane in 1924 and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He said the trial court refused to send him to a state mental hospital for pretrial observation or to appoint and pay a psychiatrist, and he said his counsel was denied adequate time for examination and diagnosis by a psychologist who appeared at trial.

Reasoning

Three days before oral argument, the State filed a psychiatric report from a Houston State Psychiatric Institute resident concluding the man showed marked psychomotor retardation, autism, incoherent thinking, and a diagnosis of simple schizophrenia. At argument the Assistant Attorney General said that if the case were sent back the State would have him examined in the hospital and would present that evidence, and that he personally would grant a new trial. The Court explained it generally avoids deciding constitutional questions before necessary, and noted that Texas’ highest criminal court had not seen the new report or heard the State’s changed position.

Real world impact

Because the state court lacked these later developments, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case for the Texas court to reconsider the man’s due-process (fair-trial) claims in light of the new psychiatric evidence and the State’s statements. The decision does not resolve the underlying constitutional question or impose a final remedy.