In those cases, treatment is likely to include medication, therapy, and education. Treatment for defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial is most often on an inpatient basis, and defendants will not be free to come and go from the treating facility, whether that is the forensic center or another psychiatric hospital.
However, visits from family members and attorneys are generally permitted during the time that the defendant is receiving treatment at those facilities. If you or a loved one have concerns about competency to stand trial, the lawyers at Blanchard Law have extensive experience in serving clients suffering from mental illness and competency issues. Feel free to contact one of our criminal defense attorneys to discuss your case. August In order to be found incompetent to stand trial, one of the following requirements must be met: The defendant does not understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him or her.
In order to meet this standard, the defendant cannot have even a minimal understanding of his or her role as a defendant, the role of the judge, the prosecutor, or the defense attorney, the penalties that he or she is facing as a result of being charged with a crime, or the criminal process.
A defendant who does not understand the nature and the object of the proceedings against him or her is most typically someone with extremely low intelligence, or who is suffering from significant psychosis. In other words, the issue of competency relates to the defendant's state of mind during criminal proceedings, not during the commission of the crime.
In the example above, suppose that the defendant suffered from severe mental illness when he shot the victim. If that illness prevents him from understanding the subsequent criminal proceedings, he's incompetent and the proceedings must halt.
Once he's received enough treatment to understand what's going on, he's competent—at that point the case can carry on.
Whether he has a mental state defense to the crime, such as insanity or diminished capacity , is an issue to be determined at trial. A court can find a defendant who has a mental illness diagnosis fit to proceed as long as the illness doesn't rise to the level of incompetence. For instance, if a defendant is taking prescription medications to manage mental illness, the court may find competency and move the case forward. Further, if a psychological evaluation determines that medication could improve a defendant's mental state, the court can order that the defendant receive the medication.
The determination of whether a defendant is competent is left to the judge. The judge must decide competency before trial, as soon as reasonably possible after it comes into question. The prosecution, defense counsel, and even the court can raise the issue at any time. Competency usually comes into doubt when the defendant's behavior indicates a lack of understanding. In some states, if defense attorneys believe there is any question about competency they must ask the court to have the defendant evaluated.
When a legitimate question arises as to competency, the defendant has a right to a hearing to determine fitness to stand trial. All trial courts have authority to order psychological evaluations of defendants, and in many states, an evaluation is automatic once a party raises the competency issue. Judges are to give great weight to the results of an evaluation, but can consider other factors, too, like the defendant's demeanor in court.
Among the points a court should consider are whether the defendant can:. A defendant's unintelligence, education level, language difficulties, and challenges communicating are generally insufficient to support a finding of incompetency. If the court determines the defendant is able to understand the surroundings, receive and interpret information, and make decisions based on that information, it will likely find the defendant competent.
Ultimately, competency is a notoriously low threshold—a defendant need not have a sophisticated understanding of the case in order to be fit for trial. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site.
The attorney listings on this site are paid attorney advertising. South Carolina does not allow diminished capacity but allows Mitigation in sentencing. Guardianship is when an agent is appointed to make legal or treatment decisions for someone considered incompetent the Ward. An individual found GBMI is acknowledged to have been mentally ill at the time of the act, but lacked sufficient capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
Informed consent is the process through which the physician obtains permission from the patient or a substitute decision-maker to provide treatment to the patient. Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity is based on the fact that "some acts are carried out by those who are not moral agents due to their mental state. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Hare's psycho-diagnostic tool commonly used to assess psychopathy.
Privilege is the right to have information revealed to the psychiatrist or psychotherapist held in confidence and not revealed against his will except in certain circumstances. Standard of Care refers to the degree to care which a reasonably prudent person should exercise under the same or similar circumstances and is applicable to the law of negligence a failure to exercise that standard of care.
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