Seventh Circuit Week in Review
The Seventh Circuit had two new opinions in criminal cases this week, with the government winning both. (Since I started this Week in Review series three weeks ago, the government has gone 10-0 — an even better run than the Tennessee Titans have been enjoying. Let’s hope the Packers don’t have the U.S. Department of Justice coming up on their schedule!)
In United States v. Anderson (No. 07-3654), the court considered a bank robber’s request for appointment of an expert to evaluate his mental health. The district court had denied the request, and the Seventh Circuit (per Judge Posner) affirmed. Normally, we think of mental health evaluations in connection with the insanity defense or determinations of competency to stand trial, but Anderson wanted an expert to help him advance a sentencing argument, specifically, that he suffered from diminished mental capacity at the time of his bank robbery. (And the fact that he did rob a bank provides prima facie evidence of diminished capacity: bank robbers are successfully apprehended at a much higher rate than most other criminals. As I tell my students, if you want to steal money, there are a lot smarter ways to do it than to rob a bank!)
