§ 1368 PC – “Competency to Stand Trial” in California

Penal Code § 1368 PC sets forth California law as to a defendant’s mental competency to stand trial.

If a judge believes you lack the mental ability to understand the criminal proceedings and assist in your defense, then a hearing may be ordered to assess if you are indeed incompetent. Upon completion of the hearing, the judge can:

• suspend the trial or criminal proceedings if they find you incompetent or
• allow the proceedings to continue if they find you mentally competent.

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the requirement that a defendant be mentally competent to stand trial. The amendment guarantees a fair trial to everyone charged with a crime, including both misdemeanor and felony criminal charges.

In this article, our California criminal defense attorneys will explain what you need to know re. competency to stand trial:

• 1. Declaring a Doubt
• 2. Competency Hearing
• 3. Competence Elements
• 4. After a Finding of Incompetence
• 5. Is a competency hearing a civil or criminal hearing?
• Additional Reading

1. Declaring a Doubt

California Penal Code 1368 PC requires the judge presiding over your criminal case to do two things if they believe you are mentally incompetent. These are:

1. declare their “doubt” as to your competency on the official court record and
2. ask your attorney for their opinion of your competence.¹

If the defense counsel provides substantial evidence of incompetency, then the judge will order a competency hearing.² The purpose of a competency hearing is to determine whether or not you are, in fact, mentally sound to stand trial.

Note that your defense counsel cannot withdraw their doubt as to your competency after it is given.³

A competency hearing is where a judge determines whether a defendant is fit to stand trial.

2. Competency Hearing

After ordering a competency hearing, the judge may direct that you be taken to a California mental hospital (or treatment facility) for a 72-hour treatment and evaluation.⁴

After completing this evaluation, the facility reports your competence to the judge.⁵ The judge considers this report at the hearing, along with any other pertinent evidence (such as your own statements), to determine whether or not you are competent.

Note that you (or your attorney) has the burden of proving that you are incompetent during this hearing. In meeting this burden, you do not have to prove incompetency beyond a reasonable doubt; rather, incompetency has to be proven only by a preponderance of the evidence.”⁶

A preponderance of the evidence means that it is “more likely than not” that you are mentally incompetent because of a mental disorder or a developmental disability (discussed in more detail below).⁷

Defendants are not competent to stand trial if they have a disorder/disability preventing them from understanding criminal proceedings or assisting their attorney.

3. Competence Elements

In California, you are mentally competent to stand trial if you can do all of the following:

1. understand the nature and purpose of the criminal proceedings against you,
2. assist, in a rational manner, your attorney in presenting your defense, and
3. understand your own status and condition in the criminal proceedings.⁸

Put in another way, you are incompetent to stand trial when you suffer from a mental disorder or developmental disability preventing you from:

• understanding the nature of the criminal proceedings or
• assisting your attorneys in your defense in a rational manner.⁹

A developmental disability is a disability that:

1. begins before you are 18 years old and
2. continues, or is expected to continue, for an indefinite period of time.¹⁰

When a defendant is found competent, the criminal case resumes.

4. After a Finding of Incompetence

A judge temporarily suspends your trial or criminal proceedings with a finding of incompetency.¹¹

In addition, you must undergo psychiatric treatment (by a licensed psychologist). You may be committed to:

• a California mental hospital,
• a center for the care and treatment of people with developmental disabilities, or
• another state-approved treatment facility.¹²

The length of the treatment is for:

• up to four months to determine if you can regain competency or
• additional reasonable time for your medical condition to improve.¹³

If a judge finds you competent to stand trial, then your trial or criminal proceedings resume.¹⁴

Judges, not juries, determine competency.

5. Is a competency hearing a civil or criminal hearing?

A hearing conducted pursuant to 1368 PC is civil in nature.¹⁵

Further, since neither guilt nor innocence is at issue, your defense counsel must support the position which they believe to be in your best interests. This is true even when those interests conflict with your stated position.¹⁶

Competency hearings are civil, not criminal.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• An analysis of competency to stand trial: an integration of case law and clinical knowledge – Behavior Sciences and the Law.
• Predictor Variables in Competency to Stand Trial Decisions – Law and Human Behavior.
• Issues and considerations regarding the use of assessment instruments in the evaluation of competency to stand trial – Behavioral Sciences and the Law.
• Restructuring Competency to Stand Trial – UCLA Law Review.
• A meta-analytic review of competency to stand trial research – Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.
  

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