Coleman Harper Bell v. United States

On June 2, 1965, Bell, after formal waiver of indictment and counsel, pleaded guilty to violation of the Dyer Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2312. Bell here attacks his conviction on several grounds, but only one deserves mention — that he was denied due process by the Government’s failure to request, and the District Court’s failure to order, a pretrial inquiry under 18 U.S.C.A. § 4244 into Bell’s mental competency to stand trial.

We have carefully reviewed the record of the hearing which included the testimony of virtually every person in any way connected with Bell’s arrest, incarceration and trial, as…