This article explores the pivotal role of competency evaluations and hearings within the United States criminal justice process. The introduction delineates the significance of these assessments in safeguarding the principles of fairness and justice. The first body section delves into the legal foundations, examining key Supreme Court decisions and delineating the intricate process of evaluating
Competency to confess refers to a suspect’s ability to make a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the Miranda warnings at the time of police questioning. Confessions that are given after a suspect waives his or her Miranda rights are sometimes challenged on the basis that the suspect was not competent to confess, meaning that
The legal standard for competency to stand trial in the United States was articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dusky v. United States (1960), wherein the Court determined that a defendant must have “sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding” and a “rational as well as
Appellate review of a felony conviction is a constitutional right. The validity of a relinquishment of this or any other constitutional right rests on whether the waiver is made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. There are two distinct arenas where waivers of appeals are encountered: plea bargains in criminal cases and death-sentenced inmates “volunteering” for execution.
In the United States, it is permissible, with the approval of the judge, for a criminal defendant to act as his or her own attorney when the case goes to court. Legal and clinical issues related to the defendant’s being competent to waive the right to legal representation are discussed in this research paper. In
The law in the United States requires that criminal defendants be competent to participate in the adjudicatory proceedings against them. Legal competence is a complex construct that includes both the fundamental capacities needed to participate in the process (adjudicative competence) and a degree of autonomy in making important case decisions (decisional competence). This research paper
Evaluations of competency to stand trial are the most common source of referrals to forensic mental health practitioners. While the clear majority of those examined are viewed as competent to proceed, those found incompetent to stand trial (IST) may be subjected to treatment and training to enable them to proceed to trial, typically referred to
The Competence to Stand Trial Assessment Instrument, often called the Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI), was developed in 1973 as a companion instrument to the Competency Screening Test (CST) and sought to standardize as well as quantify the criteria for competence to stand trial. The instrument was created by an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, psychiatrists, and
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which, according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ford v. Wainwright (1986), includes the execution of the insane. Thus, it is unconstitutional to execute condemned inmates who become incompetent while on death row while they remain in an incompetent state. Statutes set
The Competency Screening Test (CST) was developed to address the unnecessary pretrial detention and commitment of individuals charged with crimes but likely to be judged fit to stand trial. This forensic instrument was designed and tested to provide objective measures based on the legal criteria for determination of a defendant’s capacity to participate in his