Michael Taylor Publicizes FBI Complaint of Public Corruption To Shed Light on Systemic Violations of 6th Amendment

"To the FBI Civil Rights and/or Public Corruption Division,

I am submitting this complaint to report serious violations of my constitutional rights that occurred during criminal proceedings in Los Angeles County, California resulting in my unlawful psychiatric commitment and deprivation of liberty without due process. These violations involve misconduct by court-appointed counsel, a mental health professional, and the presiding judge.

On 2/14/24, a minute order in my criminal case states that defense counsel declared doubt as to my competency and that the court appointed an unnamed doctor to evaluate me. In that same order, jurisdiction was transferred to mental health court within 24 hours—before any court-ordered evaluation had taken place and without any statutory hearing or transfer process. This alone reflects a clear jurisdictional defect and violation of my due process rights.

The psychological evaluation that was later filed as a Penal Code 730 competency assessment explicitly states that the dates of evaluation occurred *before* the 2/14/24 doubt was declared. The evaluating doctor further claims the assessment was conducted pursuant to a minute order dated 10/2/24—a future date—which my bar panel attorney dismissed as a "typo." Regardless, there is no such order in existence authorizing the evaluation, and none had been issued by the court at the time the assessment took place.

Despite this, the report was formally addressed to the presiding judge in criminal court, who accepted it as substantial evidence of incompetence. This same judge knew she had never ordered the evaluation and had no legal basis to rely on it. Yet the court used this report to commit me to a state hospital without holding a proper competency hearing, appointing a qualified expert, or affording me the opportunity to contest the findings—violating clear standards set by Jackson v. Indiana and Vitek v. Jones.

Additionally, my public defender shared private, privileged email communications with the evaluating psychologist without my consent. These emails included personal religious reflections that the doctor cited as evidence of mental illness. My religious views were mischaracterized and used to justify the incompetency finding, in direct violation of the First Amendment, my right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment, and my right to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment.

This evaluation was not only unauthorized—it was originally arranged as a Penal Code 1001.36 mental health diversion assessment and later repurposed as a Penal Code 730 competency evaluation without any new appointment, court order, or legal justification. This procedural bait-and-switch deprived me of my right to a valid judicial determination of my competence and was used to transfer me into the custody of the state mental health system without lawful authority.

Taken together, these actions represent a pattern of serious misconduct under color of law. My liberty was taken based on an evaluation that occurred without judicial order, before jurisdiction lawfully transferred, based on privileged and religiously protected speech, and accepted by a judge who had no authority to do so.

I am requesting a formal investigation into these events for violations of my rights under the First, Fourth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as potential violations of 18 USC § 242, 18 USC § 241, and 42 USC § 1983. I am available to provide all supporting documentation, including court records, email communications, and evaluation reports.

Please confirm receipt of this complaint and advise me of any next steps."

Respectfully,

Michael Bernard Taylor, Jr. 

77 South Washington Street

Seattle, Washington 98104

May 11th, 2025