Deck 4: Competence to Stand Trial, and Other Competencies

Question 1

The distinction between the insanity defense and incompetence to stand trial is

A) the insanity defense is only used if a person is diagnosed as chronically mentally ill, whereas incompetence to stand trial refers an acute mental state of incompetence during the time of the trial.
B) the insanity refers to the person's state of mind while he or she was committing the crime and incompetence to stand trial refers to the defendant's state of mind during the trial
C) The terms are interchangeable
D) If someone pleads insanity, capitol punishment is never considered as a punishment, whereas, it always is when someone is deemed incompetent to stand trial

Answer 1

the insanity refers to the person's state of mind while he or she was committing the crime and incompetence to stand trial refers to the defendant's state of mind during the trial

Question 2

Aside from protecting the defendant's rights, defense attorneys might also obtain a court order for a competency evaluation

A) in order to delay a trial when a case is receiving publicity that is hurtful to the client.
B) when an attorney believes it is in the client's best interest to be in treatment rather than to stand trial.
C) to obtain information about the client's mental health that will be useful in his or her defense.
D) All of these
E) Just A and C

Answer 2

All of these

Question 3

In terms of evaluations of competency to stand trial, some mental health and legal professionals have recommended that

A) evaluators test more simplistic cognitive abilities of the defendant, such as orientation in the courtroom.
B) evaluators continue following the criteria and standards that have been set for evaluating competency.
C) evaluators should focus on more complex abilities of the defendant, such as emotion, ability to behave in the courtroom, etc.
D) change the terminology to prevent stigmatizing the defendants who are "incompetent."

Answer 3

evaluators should focus on more complex abilities of the defendant, such as emotion, ability to behave in the courtroom, etc.

Question 4

Some problems with assessment procedures for competency to stand trial include

A) unnecessary hospital commitments of those who really were competent to stand trial
B) mental health professionals make assessments based on irrelevant medical criteria
C) often times, the defendant will not cooperate with assessment proceedings, making an accurate assessment difficult
D) All of the above
E) A and B only

Question 5

CST is one assessment instrument used in order to try and increase accuracy of evaluations of competency assessments. Although considered fairly reliable,_______ is a distinct problem with the test

A) the fact that CST weighs positively the defendant's willingness to express favorable views of the legal system, creating high rates of false positives and false negatives
B) CST produces high rates of false positives only
C) the availability of the test itself and a non-biased mental health professional to administer it
D) CST provides high false negatives only

Question 6

In a court system, competency of the defendant is required to

A) stand trial
B) represent oneself
C) be executed
D) all of the above
E) A and C only

Question 7

An emancipated minor

A) has all of the rights of an adult
B) has many of the rights of an adult with the exception of drinking under the age of 21
C) is an historical concept that has not been legally noted since the late 1800's
D) is when a minor reaches the age of 18 and is legally an adult, "emancipated" from the restrictions that were placed on him or her as a minor

Question 8

" Dying with their rights on" refers to

A) a mentally ill person's right to refuse medication, which in turn, extinguishes any hope for him or her to lead a somewhat normal life outside of mental institutions
B) a mentally ill person's right to be exempt from capitol punishment if he or she is proven incompetent
C) the legal right of a mentally ill person to manage his or her own affairs, even if allowing him or her to do so is detrimental to the person's well being
D) None of the above

Question 9

When considering voluntary consent of mental patients for taking medication

A) it should be apparent that all mentally ill people admitted in psychiatric wards are incapable of giving voluntary consent in every situation
B) it is questionable whether inpatients can really give voluntary consent, especially since most realize that their cooperation with the staff is related to their release
C) voluntary consent in most psychiatric wards was not found to be an issue, seeing as most residents were capable of doing so.
D) none of the residents interviewed in these studies disliked taking their medications, and, therefore, always gave legitimate voluntary consent.

Question 10

Legally, children/ young adolescents are not considered competent to make their own decisions, but most states make exceptions in situations involving treatment for

A) alcohol abuse
B) venereal diseases
C) drug dependencies
D) all of the above

Question 11

Medications may hinder emotion, lessen psychotic episodes, and cause a person to appear very sedate. If a defendant who is pleading insanity is forced to take medications that have these effects, how might this effect the outcome of the trial? Should the defendant be forced to take the medications during trial time? Give reasons for your response.

Question 12

What is testamentary capacity? Does anyone, even a court, have the right to change the will of a person who has died? What are some ethical implications of this? Are their positives and negatives?

Question 13

The issue of whether or not psychiatric inpatients should have the right to refuse medication is a controversial issue. Should the government mandate that people who are institutionalized take their medication and cannot have the right to refuse? Why or why not?

Question 14

John has become competent to stand trial after an extended period of hospitalization and medication for his psychiatric condition. He is intending to pursue an insanity defense.
His demeanor in court is considerably improved over the day of his arraignment and he is concerned that if he continues on his medication, the jury's opinion will be swayed by his vastly improved demeanor. He wishes to discontinue his medication. Can he refuse his medication? What case law is applicable in this situation?

Question 15

Why does justice demand a competent defendant?

Question 16

What strategic advantages might there be for the defense and prosecution in having a defendant evaluated for competence to stand trial? What are the essential elements in the standard for competency to stand trial?

Question 17

What benefits or costs might there be to having a person evaluated on an outpatient basis?

Question 18

What are the ethical considerations for mental health professionals in evaluating the competence of a condemned person to be executed?

Question 19

What is Szasz's criticism of testamentary capacity?

Question 20

Under what circumstances is forced medication of involuntarily committed patients allowed?

Question 21

In the context of medical decision making, what is required of a competent person?

Question 22

The requirement that a defendant be competent to stand trial

A) was newly created by activist judges
B) serves no useful purpose for the public, the individual or the legal system
C) was well established in American law for over 150 years
D) is simply a device used by defense attorneys to circumvent the law

Question 23

Competence to stand trial and the insanity defense

A) are two ways of saying the same thing
B) refer to ancient issues no longer relevant to today's law
C) are different because one refers to behavior and one to mental states
D) are different because one refers to a mental state at the time of the illegal act, and the other to a mental state at the time of trial

Question 24

Mental health professionals perform

A) Many more evaluations of competence to stand trial than they do evaluations for an insanity defense
B) Many more evaluations for an insanity defense than for competence to stand trial
C) An approximately equal number of evaluations for an insanity defense and for competence to stand trial
D) Evaluations to determine the same factors in an insanity defense as they do in a competency to stand trial evaluation

Question 25

Psychometric measures used to evaluate competency should be

A) reliable but not valid
B) valid but not reliable
C) neither reliable nor valid
D) both reliable and valid

Question 26

For defendants, competence to plead guilty is more important than competence to stand trial because

A) most cases are plea bargained and those who can plead guilty usually get lesser sentences
B) standing trial involves many more complex decisions about trial strategy
C) judges have no responsibility for a defendant's competence to plead guilty
D) pleading guilty affects the dignity of the legal system

Question 27

Research on competency evaluations demonstrated that

A) long, inpatient competency evaluations was the only valid way of determining competency
B) relatively short examinations could be conducted on an outpatient basis with little or not loss in effectiveness
C) inpatient evaluation was more efficient, but policy makers supported, cheaper outpatient evaluations anyway
D) most states have failed to adopt outpatient evaluations, despite the research

Question 28

The legal standard for competence to stand trial is that the defendant

A) has sufficient present ability to consult with his or her attorney
B) has a reasonable or rational understanding of what his or her lawyer is saying
C) has a rational and factual understanding of the proceeding against him or her
D) all of the above

Question 29

If a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial,

A) the case against the defendant is simply dismissed
B) the defendant may be confined for treatment to restore competence, but may not be confined indefinitely
C) the defendant without further legal proceedings is sent directly to a state mental hospital
D) it doesn't matter because the trial will go on anyway and the defendant will be found guilty

Question 30

Of those found incompetent to stand trial and who are treated

A) very few are restored to competence
B) only those who were malingering were restored to competence
C) the vast majority are restored to competence and further legal proceedings go on
D) juvenile defendants can't be restored to competence because only time will affect their maturity

Question 31

Defendants who may be incompetent to stand trial without medication can be forced to take medication if

A) the medication was an appropriate treatment for the person's mental condition
B) if taking medication ensured a fair trial
C) if taking medication helped ensure the safety of others
D) all of the above

Question 32

Defendants who act as their own lawyers in a criminal case

A) are acting within their legal rights if they are found competent to stand trial
B) very often win, especially in death penalty cases
C) may not have any mental health problems
D) may appeal on grounds of ineffective legal counsel if they lose

Question 33

Criminal defendants with a political agenda

A) often want to plead not guilty by reason of insanity in order to avoid responsibility for their illegal acts
B) often do not want to plead not guilty by reason of insanity because they believe their cause would be undermined if they admitted insanity
C) cannot convince judges they are competent to represent themselves and must plead not guilty by reason of insanity
D) are allowed to engage in disruptive and obstructionist activity in court because they have freedom of speech

Question 34

The policy not to execute a mentally ill person

A) is a product of the conservative compassion philosophy
B) is not rooted in the Constitution, but is a tactic by those opposed to the death penalty to find another excuse not to impose it
C) protects the dignity of the justice system by trying and punishing only those who understand what is happening to them
D) was devised by mental health professionals who were bound by their ethical code not to participate in the execution of a mentally ill person

Question 35

When it comes to considering the competence of youth to participate in civil law matters, social scientists and law

A) agree that persons under 18 are too immature to participate in any legal activity
B) agree that one "bright line" of age is appropriate to set for participation in almost all legal activities
C) disagree about "bright lines" of age because psychologists know that given individual differences some younger people are more competent than some older people
D) disagree because law does not accept that status such as a minor is a social construct

Question 36

The standards for testamentary capacity (to make a will)

A) are very strict making it easy to overturn a will
B) are unnecessary because most people recognize "the natural objects of their bounty"
C) are not very high and therefore it is difficult to overturn a will on the basis that the person who made the will was not competent
D) are very useful because they add to the ability of mental health professionals to testify confidently that a now dead person they never met was incompetent

Question 37

Legal concern about the competence of people to protect their own property interests

A) developed only recently because so many people are now living to be older
B) includes due process to protect basic liberties of older people such as freedom to live where one chooses and freedom to manage one's own property
C) has limited sharply the use of guardians ad ilem and mental health evaluation
D) is easy to settle because all mentally ill people show their disturbance in most activities in life

Question 38

A patient residing in a psychiatric ward of a hospital

A) has lost all legal rights to self determination because of his or her mental illness
B) is still considered a person under the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution with all legal rights, and is presumed competent
C) is no longer considered competent to refuse treatment his or her doctors feel is necessary
D) is subject to psychological bias because judges believe that hospitals persecute the mentally ill

Question 39

Based on research findings discussed in the text

A) almost all mental patients were found incompetent to make a treatment decision
B) almost all patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were considered competent by the test procedure to make treatment decisions for themselves
C) because half of the patients with schizophrenia were shown by the test procedure test to be able to make competent treatment decisions, a diagnosis of schizophrenia alone does not rule out competence
D) because a patient was competent on the tests to make a treatment decision, it meant the patient was also competent to consent to participation in medical research

Question 40

Legal rules permitting mature adolescents to make decisions about some medical care without parental consent

A) reflect the political power of liberal activists who believe in undermining parental authority
B) reflect the political voting power of adolescents who will be able to vote at age 18
C) reflect the belief there is a strong public interest in giving adolescents who might not seek help otherwise access to some medical care without parental knowledge
D) reflect the unfounded beliefs of judges that older minors can exercise mature judgment

Question 41

Adolescents faced with involuntary hospitalization in a mental hospital

A) have few, or no due process rights to review of their hospitalization unless a state law grants those rights
B) Most adolescents who were involuntarily hospitalized received diagnoses of psychoses
C) Managed care and medical insurance companies favor inpatient hospitalization of adolescents
D) Have fewer due process rights if they come from poorer rather than wealthier families

Question 42

Today, those with mental retardation

A) are not permitted to marry in most states
B) are subject to involuntary sterilization without a court order
C) are not considered capable of caring for a child and therefore should be sterilized involuntarily
D) none of the above

Question 43

An older person having sexual relations with a person under the state's age of consent (different in different states)

A) does not commit a crime if the underage female acts and dresses seductively and wants to have sex
B) commits a crime because the underage female is considered legally incapable of giving consent to have sex
C) can usually be convicted in an adult criminal court if the two parties are older adolescents of about the same age and the female was a virgin
D) should not be considered a crime because a great deal of basic developmental research shows that adolescents as young as 13 have the psychological maturity and judgment to engage in sex

Question 44

The law restricting the rights of the mentally retarded who are older than the state's age of consent to give consent for sex

A) is intended to prevent someone who is vulnerable because of cognitive deficits from being exploited sexually
B) is not prejudicial because those labeled mentally retarded are usually oversexed and sexually aggressive
C) is on the books and is enforced by prosecutors regularly and successfully
D) doesn't apply if the perpetrators are popular football players in high school and the female likes them