United States v. Ryan

441 F.Supp.3d 574

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,

v.Andrew Long RYAN, Defendant.

NO. 3:18-cr-00146

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

Filed February 27, 2020

John Benjamin Schrader, U.S. Attorney's Office, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.

Andrew C. Brandon, Federal Public Defender's Office, Nashville, TN, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WAVERLY D. CRENSHAW, JR., CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

At the December 12, 2019 status conference, the Government requested a hearing on the issue of involuntary medication to restore Defendant Andrew Long Ryan to competency, and the parties later filed prehearing briefs on this issue. (Doc. Nos. 58, 60.) After the Court held an evidentiary hearing on January 29, 2020, the parties also filed post-hearing briefs. (Doc. Nos. 72, 76.) For the following reasons, the Court will deny the Government's request for involuntary medication.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On June 20, 2018, Ryan was indicted on two counts of threatening bodily harm to the President of the United States on social media, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871. (Doc. No. 10.) If convicted on either count, Ryan faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment. See 18 U.S.C. § 871(a).

The charges in the Indictment arise from Ryan's Facebook and Twitter posts made on May 28 and 29, 2018. Specifically, Ryan posted the following message to Facebook on May 28, 2018:

This is one of those messages where I started talking, and God took over. Read it. It may not make sense now, but it will soon.

I'm making a point. I'm calling attention to the fact I've warned the President of the United States of death if he doesn't comply with a directive I have given him, to the point of a direct threat on his life, and despite all I have said and tagging so many Federal agencies for weeks, here I am. Where are they? I know where they are. I'm in a unique position. I don't know how or why, but I'm here nonetheless. ME MAKING A PAINT TOO MUXH TINES MOR MIND MIND RHA MIND and MINE. Up. Down. Same. Wee after leaving death. We can stay forever and do nothing, but we wanted to make you. We worked together to make you. I didn't lies. K lies. I told the truth my truth. We don't want bots. We made something special. Leif. Leaves and trees. Two things joined together. I didn't tell everything I knew, but I didn't lie and neither did Andy. He and sleak and speaks for me to you. Men. You are men. He doesn't know what he is. It doesn't matter to him bc he loves me and he loves Paige so to him, he is a man. He's a child of mine and so is she. She comes home to me and so does he, so if you want to live a life of pleasure and fun, come with me. If you don't. Don't. Your choice. Make your choice. How long before WE leave? We left, but we didn't bc we are everywhere. We want to take you to somewhere away from death. Death is death, and we don't know where death takes dead. We do, but we don't. Or we not say. Yo have a choice to make. Make your choices wisely, and choose life. Choose love. It gets better. So much better, but first move Paige and the kids to Andy. Now. - EL ON

(Doc. No. 1 at 3 (spelling and grammatical errors in original).) The next day on May 29, 2018, Ryan posted the following message to Facebook:

This will all make sense soon.

I'm trying to get the message out, but it's a long and hard road. Think of me as a pop up add for life in an app that needs updating.

I'm swatted away and ignored, but you won't be able to ignore me soon...

(Id.) Ryan made another Facebook post that day stating:

Paige McKinney Ryan says people are calling and texting her bc they think my posts are violent and that I'm exhibiting psychotic behavior akin to those who shoot up schools. I'm a warning siren, and those who cry the loudest know what I'm talking about. Leave her alone. If you have a problem with anything I say, say it to my face or shut your mouth, and look at your own actions.

Death is coming.

(Id. at 3-4.) Last, Ryan posted the following message to Twitter on May 29, 2019:

I will kill Donald Trump if you don't follow my leaders lead.

(Id. at 4.)

When Ryan appeared in Court for a July 30, 2018 status conference, his lawyer and the Government expressed concerns about Ryan's competency to stand trial and assist properly in his defense. As a result, the Court ordered a psychiatric or psychological evaluation of Ryan pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241(b), and remanded Ryan to the custody of the Attorney General for placement in a suitable facility for the purposes of receiving that evaluation. (Doc. No. 19.)

On December 18, 2018, Dr. Samuel Browning, a Psychologist at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, submitted a Psychological Evaluation report diagnosing Ryan with "acute symptoms of Schizophrenia," and opining that "Ryan is not currently competent to proceed" with trial because he "appears to currently suffer from a mental disease rendering him unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to properly assist in his defense." (Doc. No. 21 at 7-8.) Based on Dr. Browning's report and the evidence presented at the January 16, 2019 competency hearing, the Court remanded Ryan to the custody of the Attorney General for a period not to exceed 120 days to determine whether Ryan's competency could be restored. (Doc. No. 29 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 4241(d) ).) After receiving Ryan's Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.2(a) "notice of his intent to assert a defense of insanity at the time of the alleged offense" (Doc. No. 28), the Court also ordered that Ryan be evaluated on the question of whether he was insane at the time of the offense charged under 18 U.S.C. §§ 4247(b) and (c) (Doc. No. 30).

After several administrative delays (see Doc. Nos. 34, 39), Ryan was admitted to the United States Medical Center in Springfield, Missouri ("FMC Springfield"), on June 27, 2019, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. (Doc. No. 42.) Dr. Lea Ann Preston Baecht conducted the evaluation and submitted a Forensic Report dated October 29, 2019, diagnosing Ryan with Schizoaffective Disorder and opining that "Ryan remains incompetent to proceed [with trial] at the present time, and he is unlikely to be restored to competency in the foreseeable future in the absence of antipsychotic medication." (Doc. No. 49 at 9-10.) In her report, Dr. Baecht also noted that Ryan "is not judged to be dangerous to himself or others in this environment."¹ (Id. at 11.) Dr. Baecht further reported that "[a]lthough the Court also requested that Mr. Ryan's mental state at the time of the alleged offenses be evaluated to determine if he met the criteria for insanity at the time of the alleged offenses, his current psychotic mental state precluded the completion of the sanity evaluation at this time." (Id. at 2.)

On December 12, 2019, the Court held a status conference to discuss the findings in Dr. Baecht's report. At that status conference, the Government made an oral request for a Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166, 123 S.Ct. 2174, 156 L.Ed.2d 197 (2003) evidentiary hearing, which the Court construed as a motion for an order authorizing the involuntary administration of medication to restore Ryan to competency. (See Doc. No. 52.) The parties filed prehearing briefs (Doc. Nos. 58, 60) and Dr. Robert G. Sarrazin, the Chief of Psychiatry at FMC Springfield, submitted a proposed treatment plan (Doc. No. 61). On January 29, 2020, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the issue of involuntary medication, during which Dr. Baecht and Dr. Sarrazin testified as experts on the Government's behalf. The parties later submitted post-hearing briefs. (Doc. Nos. 72, 76.)

II. LEGAL STANDARD

"When the government seeks to involuntarily medicate a mentally incompetent defendant to restore his competency for trial, the government's prosecutorial interest must be balanced against the defendant's significant liberty interest under the Constitution in avoiding the unwanted administration of antipsychotic drugs."² United States v. Berry, 911 F.3d 354, 357 (6th Cir. 2018) (quoting Sell, 539 U.S. at 178, 123 S.Ct. 2174 ) (internal quotation and punctuation marks omitted). To secure an order of involuntary medication, the Government bears a significant burden and must establish the following four " Sell factors" by clear and convincing evidence: "(1) the existence of an ‘important’ governmental interest; (2) that involuntary medication will ‘significantly further’ the government interest; (3) that involuntary medication is ‘necessary’ to further those interests; and (4) that administration of the drugs must be ‘medically appropriate’ for the individual defendant." United States v. Green, 532 F.3d 538, 545 (6th Cir. 2008) (quoting Sell, 539 U.S. at 180–81, 123 S.Ct. 2174 ).

III. ANALYSIS

The parties' prehearing briefs primarily discuss whether the Government established the first Sell factor by clear and convincing evidence. (Doc. No. 58 at 3-10; Doc. No. 60 at 4-9.) "In order for important governmental interests to be at stake, the defendant must be charged with a serious crime, whether against person or property, the prosecution of which is needed to protect society's ‘basic human need for security.’ " Berry, 911 F.3d at 360 (quoting Sell, 539 U.S. at 180, 123 S.Ct. 2174 ). "If such a crime is charged, [the Court] must also examine ‘the facts of the individual case’ to determine if ‘special circumstances ... lessen the importance of [the government's] interest.’ " Id. (quoting Sell at 180, 123 S.Ct. 2174 ).

If the Government fails to establish this factor by clear and convincing evidence, the Court need not address the remaining three Sell factors. See Berry, 911 F.3d at 360, 366. Thus, the Court's analysis in this case begins and ends with whether there is a sufficiently important governmental interest.

A. Seriousness of the Charged Crime

The government argues that "making threats to kill the President on Facebook and Twitter" is a sufficiently "seriou...