PSYC 2400 Study Guide - Final Guide: Mental Health Law, Mental Disorder, Psychiatric Hospital
16 Dec 2016
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Chapter 8 Mental Illness in Court
For guilt two elements must be present;
- Actus Reus; a wrongful deed
- Men’s Rea; Criminal intent
Unfit to stand trial; Inability to conduct defense on account of a mental disorder
Canada v. Balliram; concluded unfit person cannot be sentenced
R. V. Pichard; key case that determined fitness
- Defendant mute of malice (unintentionality)
- Whether they can plead indictment
- Sufficient cognitive capacity
Fitness to stand trial
- Unfit to stand trial if he or she cannot,
- A) understand the nature or object of proceedings
- B) Understand possible consequences of the proceedings
- C) Communicate with the counsel
o Specified in case R. v. Taylor; communication with counsel is related to limited cognitive
ability
- Length of time a defendant can be held in custody for fitness evaluation, 5 day limit can be
lengthened if need be but must not exceed 30-60 days
- Mental health law is under provincial jurisdiction
Issue of Fitness:
- Can be raised several times from time of arrest to sentence determination
o When a plea is entered, if defendant chooses to not be represented, & during sentencing
- Who can assess fitness:
o Medical practitioners, need not have background in psychology
o Psychologists can contribute with testing but must report results to psychiatrist or medical
practitioner
- Fitness Instruments:
o Screening instrument often used: Fitness Interview Test Revised (FIT-R)
▪ Contains; Understanding of the nature of the proceedings, understanding
consequences and communication with counsel
• Each response rated on 3-point scale (0-little impairment) (2-severe
impairment)
o Final decision involves 3 stages;
▪ 1) Determination of the existence of a mental disorder
▪ Deteiatio of defedat’s apait egadig aoe stateets
▪ 3) Examining previous information
- Competency Screening Test (CST)
o Uncompleted sentences that the respondent must answer about facts of the case (for
example lawyer, understanding of court process, & ability to emotionally cope
o 0-2 scale where 0 is low understanding and 2 is high understanding
o Paired with a brief psychiatric interview; score of 20 or below states a defendant should
undergo other testing
- Competency to Stand Trial Assessment Instrument (CAI)
o The psychiatric interview used with CST
o Questions about how defendant can look out for their own interest and have the cognitive
capacity to defend themselves/function in court
o 1 (total lack of capait to o efletio of ipaiet * “oe of a e gie If thee’s
not enough info
- Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Measures three areas of competency: Functional memory, appropriate lawyer relationship,
& understanding of the justice system
o Four main sections of IFI; Legal items, Psychopathological items, Overall evaluation,
consensual judgement
o Revised IFI now only has two sections with subsections
▪ Psycho-Legal Abilities
▪ Current Clinical Condition
o But now each has several subsections;
o Under Current Clinical Condition:
▪ Attention/consciousness
▪ Delusions
▪ Hallucinations
▪ Impaired reasoning and judgement
▪ Impaired memory
▪ Mood and affect
o Under Psycho-legal abilities:
▪ Capacity to appreciate changes & disclose pertinent facts events & motives
▪ Capacity to understand nature of proceedings
▪ Quality of relationship with attorney
▪ Appreciation and reasoned choice w/ respect to legal option & consequences
o Responses rated from 0 (no or minimal capacity) to 2 (substantial capacity)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Toll-Criminal Adjudication:
- Structured interview containing 22 items to understand
o Factual understanding → Reasoning ability → Understanding of legal situation
NOTE: Not all pshoti defedats ae ufit; hoee, the’e oe likel to e deeed ufit
How is Fitness Restored:
- Most common treatment is medication; but does the defendant have the right to refuse such
medication?
o Scott Starson refused such mediatio i Otaio ut i soe poies it is’t alloed to
refuse treatment
After Finding Unfitness:
- I Caada judge a ode that defedat stas i a hospital o that the’e oditioall dishaged
to be reassessed within 45 days
o If the defendant becomes fit, they return to court and the proceedings resume
- Prima Facie case: Case in which the crown prosecutor must prove there is sufficient evidence to bring
the case to trial
o If this aot e ade as a ase, the defedat o’t hae to etu to tial util it does
o This is for cases where defendants continue to be unfit * reviewed every two years for adults
and every year for youth
- A defendant can be seen to never become fit (due to something like brain damage)
- Absolute discharge possible under circumstances:
o Unlikely to become fit
o Does not pose a significant threat to society
o Stay of proceedings in the interests of the proper administration of justice
Mental State at the time of the offence:
- Insanity: Impairment of mental or emotional functioning that affects perceptions, beliefs, and
motivations at the time of the offence
o Removes the responsibility for committing crime
- The Mchnaughton verdict: He shot one of the prime iiste’s seuit guads i Lodo, as the
found not guilty due to insanity
o What came out of this case? 5 Critical elements; 3 related to insanity defences today
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find more resources at oneclass.com
o Defendant must be found to be suffering from a defect of reason/disease of mind
o Must ot ko the atue ad ualit of the at the’e pefoig
o Must ot ko that hat the’e doig is og
- 1992 Changes were made with Bill C-30
o Term not guilty due to insanity was changed to not criminally responsible on account of
mental disorder
o Review Boards were created: Legal bodies mandated to oversee the care of defendants
found unfit and/or not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder
- I Wiko BC defedat that’s foud ot iiall esposile should e eleased idefiitel
unless poses a direct threat to society
- If foud to e NCRMD it’s usuall due to itese etal disodes suh as shizopheia
Assessing Insanity:
- Richard Rogers; The Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R-CRAS) includes 5 scales:
o Patient reliability
o Organic
o Psychopathology
o Cognitive Control
o Behavioural control
- Higher scores mean greater insanity
What Happens to a Defendant once found NCRMD:
- If does’t pose a theat ad has a lo hae of eoffedig the a e gie a absolute discharge
with no restrictions on their behaviour
- If they may pose a threat to society they can be given a conditional discharge hee the’e
dishaged ut hae to eet etai oditios suh as ot possessig fieas * If the do’t follo
they will be incarcerated
- Or they can be placed in a psychiatric institution
Capping: Introduced by Bill C- hee thee’s a aiu peiod of tie that a peso ith a etal illess a
be affected by their disposition (for example criminally violent offence is 10 years)
- When deciding disposition, 4 main criteria followed:
o Public safety
o Mental state of defendant
o Reintegration of defendant into society
o Other needs of defendant
Automatism:
- Unconscious, involuntary behaviour such that the person committing the act is not aware of what
they are doing
- Two forms: Insane and non-insane
o Insane: involuntary action that occurs because of mental disorder
o Non-insane: involuntary behaviour that occurs due to outside factor
- Two stage process:
o Trial judge decides if there is sufficient evidence, following considered: psychiatric
assessments, severity of triggering event & history of automatic behaviour
o The it’s deided hethe o ot it as due to a etal disode; if ot the folloig ae
considered involuntary
▪ Physical blow (i.e. to the head), Physical ailments (i.e. stroke), Low blood sugar,
carbon monoxide poisoning, sleepwalking, involuntary intoxication, psychological
blow that would impact the average person (grief, mourning or anxiety)
o Main difference between NCRMD and automatism is the verdict; non-insane automatism
verdicts will charge the defendant as not guilty and they will be found not guilty
- Intoxication as a defence:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Unfit to stand trial; inability to conduct defense on account of a mental disorder. Canada v. balliram; concluded unfit person cannot be sentenced: v. pichard; key case that determined fitness. Unfit to stand trial if he or she cannot: understand the nature or object of proceedings, understand possible consequences of the proceedings, communicate with the counsel. Specified in case r. v. taylor; communication with counsel is related to limited cognitive ability. Length of time a defendant can be held in custody for fitness evaluation, 5 day limit can be lengthened if need be but must not exceed 30-60 days. Mental health law is under provincial jurisdiction. Can be raised several times from time of arrest to sentence determination: when a plea is entered, if defendant chooses to not be represented, & during sentencing. Who can assess fitness: medical practitioners, need not have background in psychology, psychologists can contribute with testing but must report results to psychiatrist or medical practitioner.
