PSYO 3224 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8 Mental illness in court: Actus Reus, Meta-Analysis, Structured Interview
17 Apr 2018
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Sunday, April 8, 2018
Chp 8 Mental Illness in Court
Forensic Psychology!
-Presumption in Canada’s Legal System!
•2 elements for criminal guilt to be established !
-1. Actus reus - a wrongful deed!
-2. Mena rea - criminal intent !
-Fitness to Stand trial !
•Unfit to stand trial - a defendant’s inability to conduct a defence at any stage or
the proceedings on account of a mental disorder !
-May be unfit when having an episode of the mental illness and lacks the ability
to understand the situation and tell the lawyer the facts about the case !
•When a person is found guilty on account of a mental disorder, they are not
acquitted, but rather diverted to a Review Board to determine the severity of their
illness and how they are treated !
-Review board = ~5 members including a Judge & at least 1 member who is
under law entitled to practice psychiatry!
•3 criteria!
-1. Whether the defendant is mute of malice (intentionally)!
-2. Whether the defendant can plead to the indictment (criminal charges)!
-3. Whether the defendant has sufficient cognitive capacity to understand the
trial proceedings !
•Bill C-30 (1992)!
-An amendment to the Criminal Code stating a fitness to stand trial when the
defendant has a mental disorder !
-The defendant is unfit to stand trial on account of mental disorder to a)
understand the nature or object of the proceedings, b) understand the possible
consequences of the proceedings, or c) communicate with counsel (in regard to
limited cognitive capacity)!
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Sunday, April 8, 2018
-Also altered the length of time a defendant could be held for a fitness evaluation.!
•A limit of 5 day, with the provision for extensions if necessary!
•However it should not exceed 30 days !
•The entire length of detention should not exceed 60 days !
•Detention can occur in a detention, outpatient and in-patient facility !
-Roesch et al. (1997) found the average length of time for evaluations was 3
weeks and 88% occurred in in-patient facilities !
•Mental Health Law is under provincial/territorial jurisdiction !
-Includes commitment and treatment in psychiatric facilities !
-Raising the Issue of Fitness!
•May be raised at various points from the time of arrest to the defendant’s
sentencing determination!
-Ex. When a plea is entered, when a defendant chooses not to be represented by
counsel, and during sentencing !
•The defendant is assumed to be fit to stand trial unless the court is satisfied on the
balance of probabilities that she/he is unfit !
•The defence or crown may raise the issue of a defendant’s fitness!
-The responsibility of the party who raised the issue to prove unfitness !
-How many defendants are referred for fitness evaluations?!
•Webster, Menzies, Butler and Turner estimated that ~5000 fitness evaluations are
conducted annually in Canada !
-24% were held for assessments of both fitness and criminal responsibility !
•Bonnie and Grisso estimated 2-8% of all felony defendants are referred for fitness
evaluations !
-Who can assess fitness!
•In Canada only medical professionals can conduct the assessment, this excludes
psychologists!
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Sunday, April 8, 2018
-The medical professionals do not need to have any background in psychiatry or
conducting psychological testing !
-All but 6 US states allow psychologists (Frost, de Carama and Earl)!
•Psychologists can be involved in other ways!
-They may be asked to conduct the psychological testing or assist with the
assessment !
-They then submit their results to the psychiatrist or other medical practitioner
who incorporate the results into their report for the court!
-Fitness instruments!
•Used to screen out defendants who are competent to stand trial !
•Zapf and Roesch compared fitness decisions made by using a fitness instrument
to those made following a defendant’s stay in a psychiatric facility !
-Determined that long stays in a mental facility was unnecessary !
•Fitness Interview Test Revised (FIT-R)!
-A semi-structured interview !
-Assesses the three psychological abilities !
•Understand the nature or object of the proceedings!
-Factual knowledge of criminal procedure !
-Defendant’s understanding of the arrest process!
-The nature and severity of the current changes!
-The role of key participation!
•Understand the possible consequences of the proceedings !
-Appreciation of personal involvement in and importance of the proceedings !
-Appreciation of range and nature of possible penalties and defences!
•Communicate with counsel !
-Ability to participate in defence!
-Defendant’s ability to communicate facts!
$3
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Document Summary
Presumption in canada"s legal system: 2 elements for criminal guilt to be established. Fitness to stand trial: un t to stand trial - a defendant"s inability to conduct a defence at any stage or the proceedings on account of a mental disorder. Review board = ~5 members including a judge & at least 1 member who is under law entitled to practice psychiatry: 3 criteria. Whether the defendant is mute of malice (intentionally) Whether the defendant can plead to the indictment (criminal charges) Whether the defendant has su cient cognitive capacity to understand the trial proceedings: bill c-30 (1992) An amendment to the criminal code stating a tness to stand trial when the defendant has a mental disorder. Roesch et al. (1997) found the average length of time for evaluations was 3 weeks and 88% occurred in in-patient facilities: mental health law is under provincial/territorial jurisdiction. Includes commitment and treatment in psychiatric facilities.
