The Mad Bomber of New York (35 page)

Dr. Cassity silently implored Greenberg with insistent eyes, then frowned and bowed his head in frustration.

“All delays in cases of this sort are unwise,” continued the judge. “No harm will be done to the defendant until he is properly tried and convicted by a jury of his peers. A great deal of disservice to the community can be done by dragging this case along.”

With Mullen's coerced and involuntary entry he had effectively escalated the case against George Metesky from one involving psychiatric care and evaluation to a matter of sterile crime and punishment, and within moments of the close of the proceedings Metesky was on his way to the bleak catacombs of the Manhattan City Prison—notoriously known as the Tombs.

When later asked how he felt about the events of February 28, George Metesky calmly explained, “I have thought about it very carefully and I have decided that Judge Mullen is conspiring with Con-Ed . . . He is obviously being paid off by them in his public office in some manner.”

XX
“AS PLAIN AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE”

O
N THE DAY FOLLOWING THE HOTLY DISPUTED ARRAIGNMENT IN
G
ENERAL
Sessions, the official typewritten psychiatric report on George Metesky was hand delivered to Judge Mullen. Unanimously approved and executed by the three qualified psychiatrists required by the law, the report stated:

While generally compliant in his demeanor, both on the ward and in our examinations, it is our feeling that this is merely a façade and that his inner feelings are smoldering with intense hostility based upon definite delusional ideas. While it is true that there might be some foundation in fact for his feelings of having receive[d] unjust treatment, the psychotic ideation is shown here unequivocally by the delusional ideas dominating his thought processes so extensively as to exclude other reality interests. The diagnosis is Schizophrenic Reaction of the Paranoid Type, and the examiners are of the opinion that he is a suitable case for commitment to a mental hospital for the mentally ill.

Dismissing the report as nothing more than a nonbinding consulting opinion, Judge Mullen defended his order compelling Metesky to stand trial, stating, “I don't believe in letting people hibernate in the psychopathic ward, or be used as guinea pigs by psychiatrists when they may be menaces to the public and more properly confined in penal institutions.”

Though there appeared to be no inclination toward self-inflicted harm, Metesky was placed under twenty-four-hour suicide watch at the Tombs. The cell was constantly lighted, and his necktie, belt, and shoes were removed and taken from sight. City officials were taking no chances with the notorious Mad Bomber.

Anna Kross, the progressive corrections commissioner of the New York City prison system, however, was ill at ease with the notion of housing a man who was by most accounts hopelessly insane in a largely non-rehabilitative penal environment. As a former lawyer and judge, Kross had developed a keen interest in the sociological aspects of detention and abhorred the mistreatment of the psychologically impaired. Within hours of Metesky's arrival at the Tombs, Kross telephoned officials at Bellevue, who confirmed that her new prisoner was of doubtful mental competence and clearly belonged in the therapeutic confines of the psychiatric ward. That afternoon, over the voluble objections of Judge Mullen, Kross unilaterally ordered that Metesky be transferred from his prison cell back to Bellevue. “We cannot keep a man who is mentally unsound in a detention institution,” she told reporters. “I am going to do what I think is right as commissioner.” Irate over Kross's blatant violation of his order of confinement, Judge Mullen threatened to seek a judicial determination of the powers of the commissioner's office. “I don't know what [those powers] are,” declared Mullen, “but to repeat, I hope she does . . .”

From the moment of Judge Mullen's forced entry of plea on February 28, an incensed James Murray began the process of having it vacated. Not only had Mullen conducted a hearing without the benefit of the final psychiatric report on Metesky, but, according to Murray, he had focused his inquiry on the wrong legal standard. Instead of making a determination as to whether Metesky was capable of understanding the proceedings and assisting in his defense—the threshold legal requirement for competency to stand trial—Mullen had, in fact, focused on the defendant's awareness of the nature and quality of his actions and if he could appreciate them as wrong—a standard reserved for trial to determine innocence by reason of insanity. Accordingly, Murray postulated, Metesky had been denied the competency hearing required by law as a precondition to the entry of a plea. On March 22 the awaited showdown between James Murray and Judge Mullen took place in a crowded Manhattan courtroom.

“The law is right there,” protested Murray, his blue eyes piercing through the thick lenses of his black-rimmed glasses. “[I]t's as plain as the nose on your . . . face.” Charging that the appropriate provisions of the statute had been ignored, Murray argued that no proceedings should have been held until the formal Bellevue report had been received, and he offered his opinion that Metesky was quite obviously incompetent to stand trial.

Blazing with anger, an indignant Judge Mullen retorted that he was uninterested in Murray's opinion and on several occasions he contemptuously referred to the lawyer by his last name only. Pointing out that more than fifty years of legal experience entitled him to certain opinions, Murray persisted that never in his experience had a judge required a competency hearing prior to receipt of the final written Bellevue report.

“I'm not interested in how long you've been around,” roared Mullen. He pointed an accusatory finger at the lawyer and angrily reminded him that the report as to the mental condition of the defendant was intended by statute to be no more than an aid to the court and was not required to be followed. He explained that, indeed, a man could be technically insane and still able to defend himself in court.

Infuriated, Murray demanded that Mullen recuse himself from sitting on the case since he had already reached a conclusion as to Metesky's ultimate sanity. “You had no authority to do what you did,” charged Murray.

The judge scoffed at the idea, but despite his recalcitrant anger in the matter, had little choice but to abide by the logic of Murray's main argument. A hearing
had
been conducted without the benefit of the full formal psychiatric report, and he knew that his decision would undoubtedly be reversed on appeal. Searching for a face-saving device, Mullen refused to vacate the proceedings themselves as void or contrary to law, but granted the motion to vacate the plea entered on February 28. It was a meaningless distinction. Despite the very public acrimony, Murray had succeeded in his primary goal: The plea had at least been delayed and a new date of March 29 had been set for a full and legally compliant inquiry on the issue of competency to stand trial.

As the contentious hearing came to a close, George Metesky, sitting in a box reserved for the accused, had to be jostled from a sound sleep.

As the case in New York County wound through General Sessions, similar proceedings in Brooklyn, Kings County, were also independently being conducted against Metesky. Since he was under indictment in both counties, pursuant to the law, each was bound to make its own determination as to competency, and the judgment of neither court was binding on the other. The potential of what James Murray called “a rather bizarre conflict” if each court were to reach an opposite decision on the issue loomed on the horizon. On March 27 proceedings as to Metesky's competency to stand trial were begun before Judge Samuel Leibowitz in Brooklyn, and Murray, in his unique fustian eloquence, aptly framed the issue: “one county is looking for the torso and the other county is looking for the head . . .”

Judge Leibowitz wanted no part of the conflict. His long and ambitious legal career, which had included the representation of such diverse clients as Al Capone, “Bugsy” Siegel, and the Scottsboro Boys, had taught him to choose his battles wisely, and though he knew that the potential for inter-county strife was high in the Metesky case, he would do everything in his power to avoid it for the time being. In a nod of judicial deference, Leibowitz adjourned the Kings County inquiry “out of courtesy and respect” pending the next step taken by Judge Mullen in New York County. Prior to the close of the hearing, however, he acknowledged the conclusions of the Bellevue report on Metesky's current mental state and cautioned that following Mullen's decision—whatever that decision may be—“we will proceed in the manner provided by law.” Leibowitz turned to Metesky and added, “The law compels us to do that, and that is your constitutional right and your legal right to have such a hearing.”

It was clear to all in the room where Judge Leibowitz stood on the issue of the defendant's competency to stand trial.

On March 29 Metesky was back in General Sessions before Judge Mullen for a formal inquiry to confirm or reject the Bellevue psychiatric report and to determine his competency to stand trial in New York County. In a full-day hearing the three authors of the report unanimously testified that Metesky was incapable of understanding the proceedings against him or to meaningfully assist in his own defense, and at the conclusion of the hearing James Murray rose and requested that the report be confirmed. Though Mullen had been uncharacteristically reserved throughout most of the hearing, he now peered at the lawyer with a look of disdain in his eyes and shouted, almost cheerfully, “Your motion is denied!” The judge then turned his gaze to Metesky, who appeared rather bored with the proceedings, and directed him to enter a plea. Murray interjected loudly, “not guilty, Your Honor,” but Mullen, still transfixed on the hapless defendant, ordered Metesky to speak for himself. Appearing baffled and somewhat confused, Metesky turned wide-eyed to his lawyer for direction. Murray nodded in approval and Metesky hesitatingly rose to his feet and muttered “I plead not guilty.”