State ex rel. Westfall v. Crandall

REINHARD, Judge.

Relator, the State of Missouri, seeks to obtain a peremptory writ of mandamus to compel respondent judge to order Thomas Michael Dixon to submit to a mental examination by a doctor of the state’s choice. The alleged need for the writ arose out of the following set of facts.

On December 6, 1979, the state charged Thomas Michael Dixon (hereinafter referred to as “defendant”) with murder in the second degree. Pursuant to discovery, the defendant informed the state that he intended to use the special negative defense of diminished mental capacity. To establish this defense,…