United States v. Louis Joseph Marion Marvin Ives

Louis Joseph Marion Marvin Ives appeals his conviction for murder on an Indian reservation in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1153. We reverse.

I

Ives’ appeal is before us for the third time. We first affirmed his conviction in United States v. Ives, 504 F.2d 935 (9th Cir. 1974) (Ives I). The Supreme Court granted certiorari, 421 U.S. 944 , 95 S.Ct. 1671 , 44 L.Ed.2d 97 (1975), and vacated and remanded to us for further consideration in light of Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162 , 95 S.Ct. 896 , 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975). In United States v. Ives, 547 F.2d 1100 (9th Cir. 1976) (Ives II), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1103 , 97 S.Ct. 1130 , 51 L.Ed.2d 554 (1977), this Court reinstated parts I, III and IV of its original decision, vacated part II and remanded to the district court for further proceedings pertaining to the competency issues contained in part II in light of both Drope and de Kaplany v. Enomoto, 540 F.2d 975 (9th Cir. 1976) (en banc), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1075 , 97 S.Ct. 815 , 50 L.Ed.2d 793 (1977).

The district court, in an unpublished memorandum opinion dated August 2,1977, held that at the time of trial no genuine or bona fide doubt was raised as to Ives’ competency and…