A man murdered a woman brutally and has been incarcerated for the 3 1/2 years since it happened. This is a death penalty case. The mental hospital says he's competent and sends him back to the jail and then he decompensates. This full cycle has happened twice. If he is able to maintain the appearance of incompetency, is it possible that he will be set free since a trial can't be held because he maintains his incompetency? If yes, how likely is this by percent. What other option will there be since he has been to the hospital twice now, regains competency, is sent back for trial, and again appears incompetent.
2006-07-09 14:03:23 · 7 answers · asked by firstyearbabyboomer 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The defendant will not be set free unless he is found not-guilty or the case is dismissed.
If the defendant is incompetent he will be held in a hospital under supervision until he can stand trial. This cycle will continue until the trial is complete.
But there is a very good chance that this man is delaying the trial on purpose. The longer a case goes without a trial the harder the case is to win (generally speaking). Witness die, forget things and evidence has a tendency to get misplaced by the Police over long periods.
So the short answer is, he will not be released without going to trial unless the case is dismissed. But the longer he stalls the better chance he has at trial.
2006-07-09 14:48:52 · answer #1 · answered by strangedaze23 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
There is no statute of limitations on murder.
What I think you are getting at is whether or not the right to speedy trial is being violated. The answer here is most likely, NO.
The state probably can and will demonstrate that it is prepared to bring the matter to trial when the Defendant is competent to stand trial. Any time that he is held in a mental hospital due to incompentency is charged against him, not the State. If he were to be declared competent, and then were to be held an extremely long time without a trial, (due to the state being unready), then it is conceivable that he would be released. Under the fact pattern you have given though, I think that scenario to be extremely unlikely.
2006-07-09 14:13:16 · answer #2 · answered by Phil R 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My guess is, there is a 99% chance he will NOT be set free. If he is declared mentally incompetent by the courts, he will probably stay in a state (mental) institution for life -- or a very, very, very, very long time. If there is sufficient evidence against him of the crime, I assume he will be declared incompetent (and go to the institution) or be declared competent to stand trial.
2006-07-09 14:18:53 · answer #3 · answered by cosmosclara 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no statute of limitations on murder and I believe eventually a judge will deem this person is playing court sympathy or somewhere along that line and have the the trial to proceed.
2006-07-09 14:07:33 · answer #4 · answered by midnightdealer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is likely that he will never be "released", he may just cycle back and forth. If he is found competent, tried, and convicted, he could receive a sentence resulting in his eventual release, but if he sontinues to seem "nuts" enough to be held in a mental institution, he will likely never be released.
2006-07-09 14:09:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he is really incompetent he is probably incompetent to take care of himself and would need to be permanently supervised, especially if there is potential for violence.
2006-07-09 14:08:08 · answer #6 · answered by Diane D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I say "take him to civil court.
2006-07-09 14:10:10 · answer #7 · answered by purplegremlin2 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋