66
Indefinite Commitment of Incompetent Defendants
Who are
Dangerous
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If the defendant's condition does not improve in the
prescribed time,
his/her continued commitment must be based either on State civil
commitment
procedures or on the commitment provision for dangerous persons
under 18 U.S.C.
§ 4246. The Federal procedures comport with the Supreme Court's
views on
incompetency expressed in Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715
(1972), and
have been upheld against a variety of constitutional challenges.
See,
e.g., United States v. Sahhar, 917 F.2d 1197 (9th Cir.
1990).
Upon appropriate certification from the director of the
facility in which
the defendant is hospitalized, a commitment hearing under Section
4246 will be
held. This hearing is ordinarily held in the district in which the
defendant is
confined, rather than in the district of the trial court which
originally ordered
the evaluation. See 18 U.S.C. § 4246(a). But
see
United States v. Wheeler, 744 F. Supp. 633 (E.D. Pa. 1990),
for a
discussion of the trial court's authority to conduct such a
hearing, where the
director's certification was never made.
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