In Re Dunkerley

This is a petition for habeas corpus based on the prohibition against double jeopardy. The issue came about as the result of emergency hospitalization of the defendant on the third day of his trial for the killing of his stepfather, under a prosecution for first-degree murder. The diagnosis relating to the emergency hospitalization was that of a collapsed lung with a prognosis of a seven to ten-day hospitalization period. The trial court had another doctor examine the defendant, and the diagnosis was confirmed by him, and by a third doctor who was to treat the defendant. The court then…