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The courts use mental competency evaluations to determine if a defendant is able to assist in his own defense and to make sure that the defendant's civil rights are not violated by any court proceeding. As a member of the team involved in moving a defendant through court proceedings, you should be aware that decisions reached and acted on can be appealed in later court proceedings. If you are representing a defendant who is likely to be declared incompetent, you need to know what conditions your client has that render him incompetent, and you need to present these conditions in full detail in your reports to the judge.
Psychologists, social workers and counselors also use competency evaluations to devise court-ordered and approved treatment plans and decide on appropriate interventions for the conditions that make your client unable to stand trial. The judge will also use the competency evaluation to decide if further testing is necessary.
Your client would normally be expected to make decisions about pleading guilty, waiving his constitutional rights or waiving his right to legal representation. If he has a mental condition (illness or developmental disability) that makes these decisions impossible, you have to make the court aware of these conditions so his rights are not violated. -
The judge in your client's case will order a psychological evaluation or report, or he could order a mental evaluation to determine the status of your client's mental condition. If you believe she exhibits obvious signs of mental illness (for example, schizophrenia), you should point this out in court reports so the judge may order additional testing, such as a neuropsychological evaluation, in order to determine if the origins of your client's mental illness are physical.
The report has to be objectively written with no bias for or against your client. The person conducting the evaluation is responsible for reporting his findings without pushing his own agenda. How you word your motion for competency testing will affect how the evaluator answers the "referral question" (reason for the referral).
The psychologist will use specific assessment tools or tests so he can prepare an evaluation that is specific to your client and the crime for which she has been charged. If, for instance, she has been charged for sex offenses against a minor, she could participate in tests designed specifically for sex offenders. These tests will measure her propensity for committing a sex crime against a minor and for her likelihood to reoffend in the future. She will probably be given the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) verbal subtests, emotional functioning or personality tests, the Thematic Apperception test, the Woodcock-Johnson III or the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test 2nd Edition (WIAT-II). These tests will help the psychologist to arrive at a determination of your client's competency and ability to assist in her own defense or to participate in her own trial. Depending on the final result, you need to be prepared to move ahead with a trial, getting your client to participate. If your client is found to be incompetent, you should have a list of institutions prepared so your client can be admitted immediately for treatment.
