Assault in the City: CST and Criminal Responsibility at the Time of Offense M5 Assignment 1 Competency for some is a struggle, the average person can go about their day without a care or worry but personally its a daily struggle. With current events happening in the world today i’m very effected and worried. As a Soldier world news is apart of my life, and make it a point to be competent on every aspect of the news. Being competent on current events, sports (player stats), celebrity news and military conflicts is very different from my interpretation of being competent and competency to stand trial and thought they were one in the same. While one’s competency to stand trial is perhaps the most familiar question raised in court proceedings based on my readings, there are other types of competency disputes that may warrant expert competency assessment by a forensic psychiatrist. These functions include competency to represent one’s self, competency to plea, competency to be sentenced, and competency to be executed. …show more content…
According to Melton, Petrila & Poythress, in Dusky v. United States , 11 of the United States Supreme Courts set forth a definition of competency to stand trial that has since come to be the standard in federal court and most state jurisdictions. The Court stated that “the test must be whether he the defendant has sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and a rational as well as factual understanding of proceedings against him.” (Melton, G. Petrila, J. & Poythress,
For example: Forensic psychologist should always provide services for what they are specialized in. The specialty determines the boundaries of competence (Kavanahugh, Clark, Masson, & Kahn, 2005). Forensic Psychologist has to ensure they have the necessary level of comprehension, preparation, and proficiency to conduct forensic evaluations (Kavanahugh, Clark, Masson, & Kahn, 2005).
Gertner, N. (2012 May). On competence, legitimacy, and proportion. Pennsylvania Law Review, 160(6), 1585-1597. doi:Ebscohost database
4. Made by a person with legal capacity - Competency is “the ability to perform a job.” In normal conditions this part mentions to an adult of complete mind who is able to pass the three tests defined above. Those considered not legally capable would include minors, and those who are so physiologically or psychologically troubled, they do not validate the ability to make informed judgements(Steer,
In order to effectively work in this area, Forensic psychologists must know the court’s expectations.They must be credible, competent, and concise being able to explain to the court how they arrived at their
The clinician develops a professional relationship with the client in order to assess and treat their disorder. A Forensic psychologist work requirements are different from a clinician in the field of psychology because the services he/she provides are in areas where they have specialized knowledge, skills, experience and education. He/she administers assessments to determine competency to stand trial and can testify as an expert witness. The forensic psychologist does not have a professional relationship with the client as their main focus is assessing the individual in order to submit a report to the court (Hubaboom, 2002).
To guarantee that people hold as much self-governance or self-assurance as is legitimately conceivable, the court makes an assurance of one's capability in an errand particular way. For instance, one can be resolved to be uncouth to execute a will, yet might be esteemed skillful to settle on treatment choices. At whatever point conceivable, endeavors are made to settle inadequacy in this way. Be that as it may, there are statutes that take into account the assurance of general incompetency.8,9 In such cases, people who are in diligent
This has to be one of my favorite assignments since becoming a student at Kaplan. I have been interested in the Criminal Justice since I was a small child. I come from a long line of military, however, my passion has always been Criminal Law. I remember even as a young girl in the 2nd grand, I had dreams and aspirations of becoming a lawyer. Now that I have an ex husband, and two children of my own and find the justice system a little “Leewayish” (if that’s even a word) on dead beat fathers, my dream has now become to be a “Ball busting District Attorney for deadbeat moms and dads. I am sick and tired of
There are so many assessment tools that can test the conclusion of a defendants capability to stand trial, of course a Dr. in the forensic setting will evaluate and test those individuals for accuracy. This is only done when the courts or an attorney (defense/prosecution) hires the forensic professional to conduct these tests. Certain assessments are viable to the submission of the courts in the U.S. A number of well-known lawful assessments of insanity to decide if the defendant was insane at the time of the offense are utilized (Gaskell, 2014). Insanity defense psychosomatic assessments apply the suitable examinations rendering to each jurisdiction. Those appropriate tests may vey but for the most part these are; The M’Naghten rule, Irresistible Impulse test, American Law Institute (ALI), Durham test, and Insanity Defense Reform Act (Gaskell,
With a great deal of debate the design of the United States along with the lay out by the founders of the country who took their roll in laying down the “rules” of the United States of America very seriously. The Articles of Confederation, the Bill of Rights, and the US Constitution lay the floor work of a layer of protection afforded to all United States Citizens. Each of the doctrines provides a step towards the written words that have granted many men and women protection from persecution as well as freedoms not received in other parts of the world. The last piece of the three historical
“On 01/21/2016, police responded to 5 Colin Drive in the City of Portsmouth in reference to an assault. Upon arrival, the victim Willie Mitchell) stated he was sitting on the couch when he noticed suspect 1, Donavan Sneed, standing on the porch and invited him in. He recognized Sneed as the same male that was involved in an incident that occurred an hour prior. The victim stated that when he entered, three additional suspects followed that he did not see in front of the home initially. The suspects were looking for a resident of the home, Courtney Davis, and some of her friends that had assaulted Sneed approximately an hour earlier. The victim assured the suspects that he was alone and the people they were looking for had left. At that time, all four suspects surrounded the victim when suspect 2, Jerry Harding, stated to the victim “You going to do this to my homeboy.” Before the victim could respond that he was not involved with the earlier incident, Sneed started to assault him. The victim attempted to defend himself when the other suspects grabbed his arms and held him. Sneed then punched him in the nose and the victim fell to the ground. The other suspects also began to assault the victim while he was on the ground. While being assaulted on the ground, he felt one of the suspects attempt to remove his wallet from his back pocket. The victim attempted to hold his wallet in his pocket and tell the suspects that he had no
To start a discussion a cultural competence in the field of law and within the courtroom, it’s important to establish the definition of culture in clarity. Culture is “a dynamic value system of learned elements, with assumptions, conventions, beliefs and rules permitting members of a group to relate to each other and to the world, to communicate and to develop their creative potential.” (Obialo) Religion, food, language, customs, unspoken values and beliefs, clothing and other outward expressions make up a group’s culture. There are four key components within cultural competence. Those four key components include awareness of your own cultural worldview; your attitude toward differences in cultures; your knowledge of different practices and worldviews culturally; and your communication skills cross-culturally.
Competency in the legal system can be dated all the way back to Common Law when a defendant nearly had to possess a sufficient mental capacity and an understanding of the trial ahead of him. As stated before it wasn’t until the 1960s when the Supreme Court ruled in Dusky v. United States that competency became a constitutional requirement.
This paper discusses the different roles that are taken on by a forensic psychologist, and how those roles interact and affect each other and how the psychologist is about to do his/her job. It looks briefly at the history of the field. We discuss the forensic psychologist as the consultant, the therapist, the researcher, as well as the expert witness. This paper also discusses predicting dangerousness and whether or not an expert can predict dangerousness. Finally we look at conflicting roles and ethics in the field.
In addition, whereas in clinical psychology, there is one 'client' (the subject being treated or analyzed), in forensic psychology, there are many 'clients' (the court, the prosecution/defense, the jury, etc.). Therefore, although by constitution forensic psychological assessments do not vary greatly from clinical forensic assessments, by nature and by virtue of the role they are expected to play in the legal system, they are very different.
Temperament is also vital because frequently it is necessary to work under pressure due to tight deadlines, having the patience to spend several hours researching on a single point of law and to carefully analyze facts and organize them to create a persuasive argument. Patience and understanding in listening to adversaries as well as to clients and witnesses is just as important.