Transcript of Competency Hearing, July 13, 2022 — United States v. Bowens, No. 6:21-cr-141 (Middle District of Florida)
Summary
Document 234, filed February 25, 2026 in Case No. 6:21-cr-141-RBD-NWH in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, is the transcript of a competency hearing in United States of America v. Emmet Bowens on July 13, 2022 before United States Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd. The court states it received Dr. Danziger's report, neither side objects to it, and the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent. Defense counsel Andrew C. Searle briefly asks for another expert, then relies on the report and asks for a recommendation of Butner and for self-surrender. The court commits the defendant to the custody of the attorney general, allows him to self-report and will recommend Butner in a written order.
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“Transcript of Competency Hearing, July 13, 2022 — United States v. Bowens, No. 6:21-cr-141 (Middle District of Florida).”
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Case 6:21-cr-00141-RBD-NWH Document 234 Filed 02/25/26 Page 1 of 10 PageID 751
1
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
2 ORLANDO DIVISION
3 Case No.: 6:21-cr-141-RBD-NWH
4
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
5
Plaintiff, Orlando, Florida
6 July 13, 2022
v. 9:37 a.m. - 9:48 a.m.
7
EMMET BOWENS,
8
Defendant.
9 ______________________________/
10
11 TRANSCRIPT OF COMPETENCY HEARING
BEFORE THE HONORABLE EMBRY J. KIDD
12 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
13
14 APPEARANCES:
15 Counsel for the Government:
16 Amanda Sterling Daniels
United States Attorney's Office
17 400 West Washington Street, Suite 3100
Orlando, Florida 32801
18
Counsel for Defendant:
19
Andrew C. Searle
20 Searle Law PA
200 East Robinson, Suite 1150
21 Orlando, Florida 32801
22 Transcriptionist: Nikki L. Peters, RMR, CRR, CRC
Federal Official Court Reporter
23 401 West Central Boulevard, Suite 4600
Orlando, Florida 32801
24 courttranscripts@outlook.com
25 Proceedings recorded by FTR Gold digital recording.
Transcript produced by computer-aided transcription.
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
Case 6:21-cr-00141-RBD-NWH Document 234 Filed 02/25/26 Page 2 of 10 PageID 752
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (Court called to order.)
3 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Case No. 6:21-cr-141, United
4 States of America v. Emmet Bowens.
5 Counsel, please state your appearance for the record.
6 MS. DANIELS: Good morning, Your Honor.
7 Amanda Daniels on behalf of the United States.
8 THE COURT: Good morning.
9 MR. SEARLE: Good morning, Your Honor.
10 Andrew Searle on behalf of Emmet Bowens, who's
11 present in the courtroom and seated to my right.
12 THE COURT: Good morning.
13 All right. We're here today for a competency
14 hearing.
15 I received the report from Dr. Danziger. It's
16 Dr. Danziger's opinion that Mr. Bowens is presently suffering
17 from a psychotic illness which renders him mentally incompetent
18 to the extent he's unable to understand the nature and
19 consequences of the proceedings against him and which renders
20 him unable to assist properly in his defense.
21 I previously asked the parties to notify me if there
22 were any objections to Dr. Danziger's report. But, for the
23 record, I'll ask the United States, do you object to the
24 report?
25 MS. DANIELS: No, Your Honor.
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 THE COURT: And does the defense?
2 MR. SEARLE: No, Your Honor. However, I do have some
3 issues to address at some point, whenever the Court is ready.
4 THE COURT: Sure.
5 Okay. So based on the report, which neither party
6 objects to, I do find that -- by a preponderance of the
7 evidence that the defendant is presently suffering from a
8 mental disease or a defect rendering him mentally incompetent
9 to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature or
10 consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist
11 properly in his defense.
12 So Mr. Bowens will undergo hospitalization at the
13 Bureau of Prisons. He'll be in the custody of the attorney
14 general for that.
15 Mr. Searle, what would you -- do you have other
16 matters that you'd like to raise?
17 MR. SEARLE: Your Honor, this is, obviously, a very
18 difficult situation for a defense attorney.
19 Mr. Bowens stands before the Court as a gentleman
20 with minimal to no criminal history who has not been convicted
21 of anything, who is on pretrial release conditions and is
22 currently living with his family at a residence here locally.
23 And yet, despite that, the statute requires that he
24 be taken into custody and receive treatment through a mandatory
25 hospitalization.
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 And I've researched this extensively. And the
2 Eleventh Circuit case law is very clear on this issue, that the
3 Court has no discretion whatsoever to circumvent the
4 hospitalization requirement of the statute.
5 I -- I have no reason to object to Dr. Danziger's
6 findings. I believe his findings are accurate. And I -- I
7 concur with those findings.
8 Notwithstanding that, given that the consequence for
9 the evaluation is that my client will be taken into the custody
10 of the attorney general for hospitalization, my client has
11 asked the Court to appoint another expert to evaluate him to
12 see if that other expert may come to some other conclusion.
13 I don't believe that the other expert will make a
14 different finding, but my client, given the consequences of
15 Dr. Danziger's findings, has asked me to ask the Court if the
16 Court would consider appointing another expert to see if
17 another finding could be made by another expert. I understand
18 the Court can rely on Dr. Danziger's report to make its
19 findings, but that is my client's request at this time.
20 THE COURT: All right. Ms. Daniels.
21 MS. DANIELS: Your Honor, the United States would
22 object to the appointment of another expert. The parties have
23 already appointed an expert. He's already been evaluated.
24 Neither party objects to the report. And the Court can
25 reasonably make its finding based off of that.
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 However, if the Court were inclined to appoint
2 another expert, the United States would request that the
3 defendant be taken into the custody of the attorney general to
4 be evaluated under Section 4247(b), which the Court would have
5 discretion to do at this point.
6 THE COURT: All right. Mr. Searle, what's your
7 response to an evaluation pursuant to --
8 You said 4247(b)?
9 MS. DANIELS: Yeah, 4247(b), Your Honor. About part
10 of the way down, it says: "For the purposes of an examination
11 pursuant to an order under Section 4241" -- and then it lists
12 two other sections -- "the Court may commit the person to be
13 examined for a reasonable period but not to exceed 30 days."
14 THE COURT: Oh, sure. But that would be really
15 pursuant to 4241(b), which would be the examination prior to
16 the hearing.
17 So if we were to do that, we would essentially be
18 continuing this hearing and then sending him to, you know,
19 Bureau of Prisons to be evaluated.
20 And, frankly, Mr. Searle, Dr. Danziger was appointed
21 at the request of the defense, as I recall, over the objection
22 by the United States. So I view Dr. Danziger as a defense
23 expert, and I don't really see a reason to appoint another
24 defense expert to evaluate Mr. Bowens. At most, if there is
25 any sort of objection, I would accept the United States'
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 recommendation that the Bureau of Prisons evaluate Mr. Bowens.
2 But that's the alternative that I think we're looking at here:
3 Either we accept Dr. Danziger's report and he goes to Bureau of
4 Prisons to undergo treatment, or we -- Dr. Danziger's report is
5 contested -- I guess by the defense itself -- and we get
6 another opinion from the Bureau of Prisons nevertheless.
7 MR. SEARLE: Yes, I understand, Your Honor.
8 And I -- I agree, I'm the one that requested
9 Dr. Danziger. I believe he's eminently qualified. And that's
10 why I don't contest the findings in his report.
11 As I -- as I stated at the outset, Your Honor, this
12 is a difficult situation. My client's family is obviously not
13 happy with the outcome here. Frankly, they're not happy with
14 me, given that this is where we're at in this case. But I
15 understand what the Court is saying.
16 May I have a moment to confer with my client to
17 explain --
18 THE COURT: Sure.
19 MR. SEARLE: -- to him what the Court's analysis is?
20 THE COURT: Sure. Do you need -- I don't know how
21 much time you need. I have a 10:00 o'clock hearing. We can
22 continue this until after that 10:00 o'clock detention hearing.
23 I don't know how much time you need to confer with
24 him. Or, if you need only a few minutes, that's fine.
25 MR. SEARLE: Can I just have one moment?
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Middle District of Florida
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1 THE COURT: Sure. Go ahead.
2 (Court was at ease.)
3 MR. SEARLE: Your Honor, my client has now indicated
4 that it's his -- it's his wish to rely solely on Dr. Danziger's
5 report and his findings.
6 I would request that the Court recommend in the order
7 the Butner facility for the restoration treatment.
8 And I would also ask that the Court allow for my
9 client to self-surrender to that facility at a date in the
10 future.
11 THE COURT: All right. Does the United States object
12 to either of those requests?
13 MS. DANIELS: The United States would recommend that
14 the Court put Butner or the first available facility.
15 I don't want to delay the process if Butner is backed
16 up for some reason.
17 I don't have an objection to the defendant
18 self-surrendering. But I don't -- given the language of the
19 statute, which just says that the Court shall order the
20 defendant to be committed to the custody of the attorney
21 general, it's unclear to me whether or not the Court would have
22 the discretion to delay the commitment to the attorney
23 general -- the custody of the attorney general. But I don't
24 have an objection if the Court --
25 THE COURT: Okay.
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Middle District of Florida
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1 MS. DANIELS: -- does.
2 THE COURT: Thank you.
3 I read the statute assaying that he does have to be
4 committed to the custody of the attorney general but not
5 immediately remanded to the custody. So I think self-report is
6 an option.
7 Based on past experience, I will recommend Butner.
8 But just based on how -- bed availability, recently, in some of
9 these cases, I think I agree with the United States that first
10 available might be better. Because sometimes it's taking, you
11 know, months for space to become available.
12 MR. SEARLE: Yes, Your Honor. I understand that. In
13 my experience, Butner is the best facility for addressing the
14 issues my client is dealing with.
15 THE COURT: I think it's also the closest, and
16 sometimes -- I think there's a facility in Texas. But, yes, I
17 will make the recommendation for Butner. But if --
18 MR. SEARLE: I know that Miami does, from time to
19 time, do --
20 THE COURT: Miami --
21 MR. SEARLE: -- restoration --
22 THE COURT: -- as well. That's right.
23 MR. SEARLE: -- but, in my experience, they do not,
24 frankly, do as good of a job as Butner. And I haven't had good
25 results when a client has been sent there. Frankly, a lot of
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 times the situation gets worse.
2 THE COURT: So you would prefer Butner, even if the
3 wait for Butner is longer than, for instance, Miami?
4 MR. SEARLE: Yes, Your Honor. Absolutely.
5 THE COURT: Well, ultimately, it's going to be the
6 decision of the Bureau of Prisons, but I'll recommend Butner.
7 But I imagine if it looks like it's going to
8 unnecessarily delay the proceedings, they might come to a
9 different conclusion. But, in the order, I will recommend
10 Butner.
11 MR. SEARLE: Thank you, Your Honor.
12 THE COURT: All right. So, as I stated, I will
13 commit the defendant to the custody of the attorney general.
14 I will allow him to self-report to the designated
15 facility. I'll make a recommendation for Butner. And that
16 will be in a written order.
17 Is there anything else to take care of from the
18 United States?
19 MS. DANIELS: No, Your Honor. Thank you.
20 THE COURT: From the defense?
21 MR. SEARLE: No, Your Honor. Thank you.
22 THE COURT: All right. This hearing is adjourned.
23 (Proceedings adjourned at 9:48 a.m.)
24
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United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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1 C E R T I F I C A T E
2
3 I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript
4 from the record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter.
5
6
7 February 25, 2026
8 s\ Nikki L. Peters
Nikki L. Peters, RMR, CRR, CRC
9 Federal Official Court Reporter
United States District Court
10 Middle District of Florida
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United States District Court
Middle District of Florida
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