Incompetency to Stand Trial - As Status, as Label, and as Potential Source of Sentencing Disparity

• NCJ Number: 83318
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (1982) Pages: 191-198
• Author(s): B L Heininger
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Criminal defendants are considered to be incompetent to stand trial if they are unable to understand the proceedings against them and unable to cooperate adequately with their attorneys. The purpose of this study was to compare the sentencing patterns of a group of defendants who had raised this issue and been returned to court as competent, with those of a group of defendants who had not raised the issue.

Abstract

Results showed that raising the issue of incompetency seemed to be a significant factor in the consumption of court resources, and lessened a defendant's likelihood of having his or her case dismissed. It did not make a significant contribution to the explanation of the variance associated with sentence length or with the granting of probation. (Author abstract)