Competency and Criminal Responsibility Competence fair trial issue Dusky vs United States o Established competency to stand trial o Now referred to as adjudicative competence does a person have the capacity to meaningfully and knowingly go through a trial o Before Dusky all that was required was reality testing what s your name What s the date Where are you Can they consult with their attorney and have a reasonable degree of understanding the court system Evaluated for 2 8 of felony cases infrequently occurring event o 20 50 are found non competent Can we get someone who is psychotic or suffering form a severe mental illness to a point where they can work with their attorney and go through trial All for a fair trial Competency is evaluated for how you are at the current time Adjudicative Competence Foundational Competence o Can the defendant assist in counsel Decisional Competence o 4 interrelated abilities 1 Understand information relevant to decisions 2 Use reasoning about alternative course of action in making decisions 3 Appreciate decisions that need to be made in his her best interest 4 Make choice about alternative defense strategies that are available Competence and Containment Jackson vs Indiana o How long can you keep someone to try and make him her competent o We can t hold them a period of time beyond their maximum o Do we think that we ll be able to make him her competent in this time frame sentence There s a cut off period usually a percent of the maximum o If we can t make them competent then we can t try him her Competence Assessment Sample instruments CST CADCOMP CAI GCCT IFI FIT MacCAT Not just evaluating someone s mental state but how that mental state interferes with the process of interacting with their attorney Just because someone is psychotic doesn t mean that they can t work with their attorney Target to what degree does the mental disorder person impact the person s legal comprehensions and ability to work with their attorney Determine mental status and actual competence Amnesia and Competence Wilson vs United States o 6 factors in determining if amnesia results in incompetence 1 Extent to which amnesia interferes with ability to consult counsel 2 Extent to which amnesia affects ability to testify in trial 3 Extent to which evidence can be reconstructed by others in view of the amnesia evidence 4 Extent to which the government assisted in the reconstruction of 5 Strength of prosecution s case 6 Other facets or circumstances that would indicate a fair trial Other Competencies Competence to plead guilty Competence to stand trial Competence to waive Miranda rights Competency to refuse the insanity defense Competency to be sentenced or punished Competency to be executed o Complicated by the code of ethics Do no harm Competency Ethical Issues Competency to be executed Involuntary competence o Washington v Harper 1990 Specific to involuntary medication to inmates 3 criteria i Danger to self or others ii Medically justified iii Best interest of the inmate o Riggins v Nevada 1992 Involuntary medicating someone who is not competent Allowed to do this because it s essential to state interest Still debated Insanity Used about 1 of the time Effective about of the time Retrospective evaluation Evaluating someone s mental state at the time of the offense how were you doing when you committed the crime o Usually evaluate their current mental state o Challenging o Rely on clinical records Burden of proof is now on the defense affirmative defense o Burden of proof is usually on the prosecution Key components 1 Have to have a mental disease or defect 2 Have to have a cognitive rational impairment due to mental disorder 3 Impairment has to affect your ability to understand appreciate and or control criminal behavior o All have to be at the time of the crime M Naghten Rule 1843 o Excused if Defect of reason or disease of mind led to not knowing what they were doing If he she knew did not know what he she were doing was wrong o Insanity went from a psychological term to a legal term o For insanity standards you have to meet a diagnosis o Irresistible clause if you did know what you were doing you didn t know it was wrong OR if you did know it was wrong you couldn t resist doing it Durham Rule Product Rule o Attorney said that M Naghten was too stringent o Not responsible if suffer from mental disease or mental defect o Only exists in New Hampshire o Where psychologists psychiatrists became more involved active in testifying ALI Brawner Rule Model Penal Code o At the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality wrongfulness or his her conduct or to conform to the requirements of the law o Includes knowledge prong and volition prong irresistible impulse you couldn t control what you were doing Volition prong o Used in MA Most states have M Naghten M Naghten with the irresistible clause or ALI o Kansas has abolished it o NH has Durham o Some states have guilty but mentally ill where you get treatment first and then serve time in prison Insanity Defense Reform Act IDRA o Came about after Hinckley shot Reagan Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity o Changed federal rules on insanity not state o Did away with the part about volition inability to conform conduct o Limited expert witness role o Burden of proof on the defense o Not clear and convincing Other Options Procedures o Guilty but mentally ill o Bifurcated procedure Diagnoses NGRI Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity guilt and insanity are 2 separate trials o 54 Schizophrenia o 13 Psychotic disorder o 33 Other o Still talking about 1 of cases with 25 effectiveness o These are the diagnoses for people that have successfully used NGRI Other NGRI Issues o Juror Issues Impact of instructions Doesn t have much of an impact Impact of outcome if found NGRI Go to an institutional facility until they are better When you tell juries what actually happens when they are found NGRI juries are more likely to find people NGRI o NGRI confinement is indefinite Until you are safe to be out and about o Recidivism of NGRI individuals Same as in non NGRI individuals Diminished Capacity You should be convicted of the crime that matches your mental state Dan White and the Twinkie defense o Dan White essentially did start eating a lot of Twinkies o Twinkie consumption was secondary to his depression from having been fired PTSD as a diminished capacity