Opinion
BENJAMIN B. WAGNER, United States Attorney, JOSH F. SIGAL, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Sacramento, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiff, United States of America.
RACHELLE BARBOUR, Counsel for Defendant, Ryan Mason.
STIPULATION AND ORDER REGARDING MENTAL COMPETENCY EXAMINATION; REQUEST TO SEAL DR. FOSTER'S COMPETENCY REPORT
KIMBERLY J. MUELLER, District Judge.
STIPULATION
Plaintiff United States of America, by and through its counsel of record, and defendant, by and through defendant's counsel of record, hereby stipulate as follows:
1. By previous order, this matter was set for a status conference on August 19, 2015.
2. The parties agree and stipulate, and request that the Court find the following:
a) The defendant was indicted on October 16, 2014, on three counts of receipt and distribution of child pornography.
b) On October 21, 2014, the defendant appeared and was released to the third-party custody of his mother.
c) On January 22, 2015, at the request of counsel for defendant, a psychological examiner, Dr. Barbara E. McDermott, Ph.D., produced a report in which she gave the opinion that the defendant is not competent to stand trial.
d) On July 23, 2015, a second mental competency examination was prepared by Dr. John Alan Foster, in which Dr. Foster found defendant is competent to understand the charges against him and to participate with his attorney in his defense. The parties jointly request that this Court order Dr. Foster's report, like Ms. McDermott's report, to be filed under seal concurrently with this stipulation. (This stipulation and order need not be filed under seal.) The sealing is requested pursuant to Eastern District Local rule 141 and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 57(a)(1). The Court has inherent power to seal documents. See United States v. Gurolla, 333 F.3d 944 (9th Cir. 2003) (recognizing authority to accept submissions under seal); see also United States v. Hickey, 185 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 1999); United States v. Hardwell, 80 F.3d 1471, 1483-84 (10th Cir. 1996). The competency report is a deeply personal document concerning the mental and physical health of the defendant. The competency report has been submitted to the Court via electronic e-mail pursuant to Local Rule 141(b). Both parties already have the report.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
FINDINGS AND ORDER
After consideration of the parties' stipulation and the competency report, the Court hereby finds that the competency report prepared by Dr. Foster is a deeply personal document concerning the mental and physical health of the defendant. Accordingly, the Court hereby ORDERS that:
The competency report by Dr. Foster be filed under seal, until further order of the Court;
IT IS SO FOUND AND ORDERED.