United States v. Brady Hord, Jr.

At his trial without a jury for bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a), the appellant Hord admitted robbing the bank but claimed that he should be acquitted because his addiction to heroin was a mental disease or defect that substantially impaired his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct, or to conform it to the requirements of law, within the meaning of Wade v. United States, 9 Cir., 1970, 426 F.2d 64 . After hearing evidence of the duration and severity of Hord’s addiction and its effect on his behavioral controls, the District Judge struck the evidence as irrelevant, found Hord guilty, and sentenced him to nine years in prison.

Hord appeals, contending (1) that the District Judge committed reversible error in striking the evidence regarding his addiction and (2) that the provisions of the Narcotics Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, 18 U.S.C. § 4251 , that disqualify him from sentencing under that A.ct are unconstitutional.

We find it unnecessary in this case to decide (1) whether or under what circumstances addiction to heroin may be such a “mental disease or defect” as is referred to in Wade, supra, or (2) when, and if so to what extent, the…