EDITOR'S NOTE: This memorandum of law was submitted bv the authors in a case in the
Supreme Court of New York. New York County, on behalfofthe New York Civil Liberties …

Examinations of Competency to Stand Trial is intended to explain how the courts construe
competency. The authors make it clear in the introduction that this is not a" how to evaluate" …

The authors' four-year examination of the competency for trial issue in Massachusetts
suggests that neither the psychiatric nor the legal profession in the state is currently able to …

What exactly competence entails in the trial context, however, has never been entirely clear.
The court recently had a chance to reconsider this question(2) but ended up offering little …

When a court asks a psychiatrist for an opinion with respect to the competency of a
defendant to stand trial, the common law questions are, or ought to be," Does the defendant …

The assessment of competency to stand trial is frequently fraught with conceptual confusion
resulting from a failure to properly apply the data of the clinical examination to the relevant …

The law provides that an accused person may be put to trial only if he is able to understand
the nature of the charges against him and can aid counsel in his defense. This rule …

Although psychiatrists disagree about whether they should have a role in the courtroom, the
legal system continues to ask their help in evaluating defendants' competency to stand trial …

Over thirty years ago, an illiterate, deaf, mute man allegedly stole $9.00 worth of property. 1
After being charged in the criminal court of Marion County, Indiana, Theon Jackson, the …

Psychiatry as a discipline and as a technique has made an enormous advance in public
acceptance and influence in the past decade. This influence has extended beyond the place …