United States v. Gigante

Vincent Gigante (defendant) was indicted by the federal government (plaintiff) in 1990 due to extortion, mail fraud, and labor payoffs. In 1993, Gigante was indicted for the murder of six people, as well as additional extortion and labor-payoff charges. Before he could be tried, Gigante’s attorneys asked for a hearing and ruling on his competency to stand trial. In 1990, the trial judge ordered Gigante to be examined by a pair of psychiatrists, Dr. Rappeport and Dr. Schwartz. Two other psychiatrists, Dr. Halpern and Dr. Portnow, examined Gigante at the request of his attorneys. Initially, all four doctors filed reports stating that Gigante was not competent to stand trial because Gigante was incapable of understanding the proceedings or assisting in his defense (a test better known as the Dusky standard). After hearing extensive testimony from other witnesses, the court entered findings of fact that Gigante had been a major player in the Genovese crime family for about two decades and that Gigante essentially performed executive functions within that family. The court also found that for decades, Gigante had undertaken extreme measures to fake insanity, including nearly annual episodes requiring psychiatric treatment and wandering the streets in his bathrobe with a disheveled appearance. Gigante had also demonstrated significant apprehension around anyone ever using his name in Gigante’s criminal circles. Once the court entered these findings, Dr. Rappeport testified that to a medical degree of certainty, he believed that Gigante was malingering and probably competent to stand trial. Dr. Schwartz testified that he was convinced of Gigante’s fitness for trial. Dr. Halpern refused to give credit to the court’s findings or change his opinion. Dr. Portnow testified that Gigante was fit for trial in 1991 but had been incompetent to stand trial since 1995 due to worsening brain disease, which Portnow based on behavior he believed to be new, but that Gigante had actually exhibited over the past two decades.