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Temporary Commitment of Incompetent Defendant
for Treatment
to Regain Competency
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If, after the competency hearing, the court finds by a
preponderance of the
evidence that the defendant is presently incompetent to stand
trial, the court
must commit the defendant to the custody of the Attorney General.
The Attorney
General must then place the defendant in a suitable facility for
treatment for
a reasonable period of time, not to exceed four months, to
determine whether
there is a substantial probability that in the foreseeable future,
the defendant
will attain the capacity to permit the trial to proceed.
See 18 U.S.C.
§ 4241(d). This commitment to the custody of the Attorney
General for
treatment is mandatory. United States v. Shaway, 865 F.2d
856 (7th Cir.
1989); United States v. Donofrio, 896 F.2d 1301 (11th Cir.),
cert.
denied, 497 U.S. 1005 (1990).
If, after the initial period of the treatment, the court
finds that
there is a substantial probability that the defendant will attain
the capacity
to permit the trial to proceed within an additional reasonable
period of time,
the Attorney General shall continue to hospitalize the defendant
for treatment
for an additional reasonable period of time until the defendant
regains
competence or the pending charges are disposed of according to law.
18 U.S.C.
§ 4241(d)(2).
When the director of the facility in which the defendant is
hospitalized
determines that the defendant has recovered his or her competency
to stand trial,
the director must file a certificate to that effect with the clerk
of the court
that ordered the commitment. The court then will hold another
competency
hearing. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence
that the
defendant has recovered to the extent that he/she is able to
understand the
nature and consequences of the proceedings against him/her and to
assist properly
in his/her defense, the court shall order the defendant's immediate
discharge
from the facility in which the defendant is hospitalized and set a
date for
trial. The defendant is then subject to the normal release and
detention
provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§ 3141 et seq., which apply
to all
criminal defendants. 18 U.S.C. § 4241(e).
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