The Lottery
By Judge David Barnett

One of my many responsibilities as a district court judge in Oklahoma is to preside over the initial appearance of all defendants in criminal court. This is in the nature of chores, as we must conduct at least one initial appearance docket each week. At the initial appearance, I deal with many details of the case and set several dates for future hearings. One of the important parts of the initial appearance is the task of verifying the relevant information about the defendant.

It is also very important that I make a determination of the mental competence of the defendant at the initial appearance. Part of this determination is made by asking very pointed questions about the person’s mental competence, but I also carefully observe the defendant’s demeanor and listen to his answers to general questions to see if I can find any clues to his general competence.

One of the areas of questioning that can be very helpful in determining a person’s general mental competence is when inquiry is made as to age, date of birth, name and address. It may come as a surprise to learn that many people in the criminal justice system have trouble remembering these basic items of information.

Specifically, I recall several arguments with defendants who were certain of their birth date and their age, but if the two items of information which they furnished were compared, one could be certain that they were incorrect on one or the other. For example, if I said that my birth date is Sept. 11, 1950, and that my age is 53, we can be sure that one of these items is incorrectly reported.

One of the most interesting dialogues I have had with a defendant at an initial appearance involved making inquiry about his address. When asked for his residence address, this gentleman advised me that it was a post office box in Manitou, Okla. When I told him I needed the physical address of his residence, he assured me that he lived at that post office box. When I pressed the issue, he said, “Well, my house is out west of Manitou.” I pressed even further, explaining that I needed the street address or the location to some known reference point.

When this failed, I said, “Okay, how do you get home?” He responded that he would just head west of Manitou and turn at his corner. Because he was having great trouble understanding my questions, I used a hypothetical situation. I said, “Assume that I work for the Texas Lottery Commission, and you have won the $3 million jackpot. I want to bring you the check. Where do I bring it?”

Well, now I had his full attention, and he obviously wanted me to be able to get the loot to him. He scratched his head and first tried to give me the mileage and directions to his house. He obviously didn’t know them, but finally I saw his eyes light up as he had devised a solution to this dilemma. He said, “Judge, you just head west of Manitou on the highway. I’ll be standing there on the side of the road, and you can give me the check!” I did not inquire further, for fear that I might be the one whose mental competence would be questioned.