Hi my name is Chris Morales, I am a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco, California. I am a board certified specialist in criminal law. Today I want to talk about the law of competency in a criminal cases. Every criminal defendant must be competent to stand in trial in order for their case to precede in court. In other words they have to have the mental capacity to understand the role of the judge, the role of the district attorney, the role of their own attorney and also be able to assist and help their attorney prepare their defense.
If they can’t do those things because they have some sort of mental disorder like schizophrenia or they are bipolar or they have a severe case of depression they may not be competent to stand trial. The competency proceeding starts in criminal court when the defense attorney declares to the judge, tells the judge, “Judge you know what I have a doubt as to the competency of my client, I don’t know whether they understand what’s exactly is going on.” Once those words are spoken the judge then is obligated to appoint a psychiatrist and
psychologist to interview client and to evaluate as to competency. If the doctors believe that the client is not competent then the judge will rule that the client is not competent and then the criminal proceedings are suspended, which means they are put on hold and the client is sent to a mental health hospital in order to get help for their mental health issues and hopefully to become competent. There is a time limit as to how much time they can spend in the mental health hospital it has to be 3 years or less.
If they are still not competent after 3 years then the case is dismissed. That’s the law of competency. For more information as to criminal law and the law of competency please visit my website at www.sfcriminallawspecialist.com there is free information there. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook and you can get to those accounts on the home page of my website. Again, Chris Morales you can call me at (415) 552-1215.
The Law of Competency in a Criminal Case
Criminal Defense Attorney – Christopher Morales
Practice Area: The San Francisco Bay Area, California
Call us today for a free consultation (415) 552-1215 (Se Habla Español)
Website: www.sfcriminallawspecialist.com
