My state is Nebraska and the competency to stand trial laws follow the usual guidelines and regulations. Nebraska states that at any time either before or during the trail it appears that the defendant is not competent to stand trial any person for the defendant may call this to the court\u2019s attention, including attorneys of the court (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). If the defendant is deemed incompetent to stand trial, and there\u2019s potential to be deemed competent at some point in the future, the judge shall commit the defendant to treatment to restore competency (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). About 20 days after this decision is made there will be a court hearing held on if the treatment is appropriate or not (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). Every 60 days the court will have a hearing to determine if the defendant has competency restored or if treatment is still appropriate (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). If the defendant is deemed to never have competency restored, then the court can either commit the defendant indefinitely or release them (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). If the defendant is deemed to never have competency restored, then the charges against them can be discharged or dismissed (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). Any examinations done to determine if the defendant is competent or not must follow all ethical rules, regulations, and guidelines (Nebraska Legislature, 2023). Any professional who is performing examinations will be paid an amount deemed fair by the court (Nebraska Legislature, 2023).<\/span><\/div>\n <\/span><\/span>The first case I looked into was Riggins v. Nevada, 524 U.S. 127 (1992). In this supreme court case, the court decided on whether a court could force a mentally ill individual to take antipsychotic medication while they are on trial to keep them competent during trial. David Riggins was charged with arrested and charged with capital murder and robbery an individual who was found stabbed to death (Wikipedia, 2023). After he was arrested, he admitted to hearing voices and having sleeplessness (Wikipedia, 2023). He told the jail psychiatrist that he had previously be on an antipsychotic medication before and the psychiatrist prescribed it to him, he was taking 800 MG of Mellaril a day (Wikipedia, 2023). Riggins was evaluated and deemed competent to stand trial. Riggins planned to present an insanity defense and requested to stop taking his medication until after the trail so the judge could see an honest first-hand experience of his mental state on the night of the crime (Wikipedia, 2023). However, the courts denied this request and required that Riggins stay on his medication (Wikipedia, 2023). The jury found Riggins guilty of murder and robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced him to death (Wikipedia, 2023). Riggins appealed claiming that being forced to take his medication is against his sixth and fourteenth amendment rights. The supreme court ruled that forced administration of antipsychotic medication violated Riggins\u2019s due process rights held by the sixth and fourteenth amendments (Wikipedia, 2023).<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span>The second case I took a deeper dive into is Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1985). In this supreme court case, the court decided that a state must provide a psychiatric evaluation to criminal offenders who need it but lack the finical resources for one (Wikipedia, 2019). Glen Burton Ake was arrested and charged with first degree murder of a couple and wounding their children (Wikipedia, 2019). At his arrangement he was deemed incompetent to stand trial and was even diagnosed with probable paranoid schizophrenia (Wikipedia, 2019). He was committed to a state hospital for several months receiving treatment to restore competency. After this Ake had his trial, where his attorney requested that the court appoint a psychiatrist to evaluate and aid in preparing an insanity defense for Ake (Wikipedia, 2019). The court refused stating that Ake had no right to such assistance. Ake was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death (Wikipedia, 2019). Ake appealed this decision and the court ruled in favor of Ake (Wikipedia, 2019). Due to Ake\u2019s due process rights the state must provide him with an appointed psychiatrist if he can\u2019t afford his own (Wikipedia, 2019).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Nebraska Legislature. (2023). <\/span>Nebraska legislature<\/em>. The official site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature. https:\/\/nebraskalegislature.gov\/laws\/statutes.php?statute=29-1823 <\/span><\/p>\nWikipedia. (2023, July 10). <\/span>Riggins v. Nevada<\/em>. Wikipedia Foundation. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Riggins_v._Nevada#:~:text=Nevada%2C%20504%20U.S.%20127%20(1992,remain%20competent%20during%20the%20trial. <\/span><\/p>\nWikipedia. (2019, April 29). <\/span>Ake v. Oklahoma<\/em>. Wikipedia Foundation. https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ake_v._Oklahoma<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Locate your state and federal laws that address competency to stand trial. Summarize your state standards for competency to stand trial, particularly the provisions for restoration of competency. Summarize at least two cases regarding competency to stand trial. Here are some possible choices of case law: Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1985). Estelle v. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[196],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/29030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/29030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=29030"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=29030"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=29030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}