## Facts

- Kendrick, a federal prisoner, was convicted in November 1960 and sentenced to seven years for three thefts from interstate commerce committed between July and September 1960.
- Kendrick was described as 44 years old and as having spent much of the prior three decades in and out of prisons and reformatories.
- In June 1952, Kendrick was adjudicated insane by North Carolina courts and committed to an institution for the criminally insane; he later escaped.
- Kendrick was again committed to a North Carolina state hospital for the insane from January 13, 1959 to March 16, 1959.
- Kendrick alleged that he suffered memory loss after a wreck in June 1959, and that he did not recover his memory until after psychiatric treatment during his current incarceration.
- After his federal conviction, Kendrick filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 seeking to vacate his sentence, claiming he was incompetent to stand trial in November 1960 because he was insane and suffering from amnesia and could not assist counsel.
- The district court held an evidentiary hearing on the § 2255 motion.
- At that hearing, the government offered lay testimony from Kendrick’s trial attorney and an FBI agent that Kendrick appeared responsive, logical, and able to understand the proceedings and consult with counsel.
- The district court denied § 2255 relief, relying in part on that lay testimony and on psychiatric material that did not fully address Kendrick’s alleged post-1959 condition.

## Issues

1. Whether a claim that a defendant was incompetent to stand trial is properly raised in a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.
2. Whether the record developed at the § 2255 hearing was sufficient to deny relief, given Kendrick’s prior insanity adjudication, later hospitalization, and claimed amnesia.
3. Whether trial counsel’s testimony describing Kendrick’s responsiveness and apparent comprehension at trial should have been excluded under the attorney-client privilege.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit accepted that incompetency to stand trial may be raised in a § 2255 motion (the government conceded the point), citing Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit authority.
- The court vacated the order denying § 2255 relief and remanded for a further, more complete hearing on Kendrick’s competency at the time of the 1960 trial.
- The court held that counsel’s testimony about Kendrick’s observable behavior (responsiveness, coherence, apparent understanding) was not barred by the attorney-client privilege because it did not disclose confidential communications.
- The court indicated that, although such lay observations were admissible, the competency question required a more adequate record, including psychiatric evaluation directed to Kendrick’s condition at the time of trial in light of his mental-health history and claimed amnesia.

## Legal Principles

- A federal conviction obtained while the defendant was incompetent to stand trial may be collaterally attacked through a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.
- Where a petitioner presents substantial evidence of mental illness (including a prior insanity adjudication and psychiatric institutionalization), a court should not deny § 2255 relief on competency without a well-developed record that addresses the defendant’s condition at the time of trial, including medical evidence as needed.
- The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications made for legal advice, but it does not bar counsel from testifying about nonconfidential, observable facts such as a client’s demeanor, responsiveness, and apparent ability to understand proceedings, so long as the substance of protected communications is not revealed.

## Conclusion

United States v. Kendrick held that trial counsel may testify in a § 2255 competency proceeding about a defendant’s observed demeanor without violating the attorney-client privilege, but that a denial of competency-based relief cannot stand when the record is too thin to resolve competency in light of a serious psychiatric history; the Fourth Circuit therefore vacated and remanded for a fuller hearing with appropriate psychiatric evidence focused on the time of trial.


United States v. Kendrick, 331 F.2d 110 (1964)