Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to Food
for Thought. Thoughts if it were you. This is
your host, Neogentrix. I know it's been a while
since I've come back and talked to you guys,
but a lot of stuff has happened over the last
couple of weeks, last couple of months, okay?
I'm sorry that I haven't released an episode
in a while, but I'm planning to release about
four of them in the next couple of days, if not
more. So please stick around, please. I thank
you guys for hanging on and waiting for the next
episode. I'm still here. I'm still going. It's
2019. Happy New Year, everybody. Let's get this
ball rolling, even though I know the month of
January is almost over. Now, before we get started,
I just want to go ahead and pass off a little
bit of sad news. One of the things that kept
me from producing an episode for a while, and
it's still taking me a little bit longer to get
over, is that my grandfather passed away last
month, literally on the 19th, okay? winter break
has just started. I was going home to hang out
with my family and lo and behold, barely two
days after I got there, my mom gets a message
that morning saying that my grandfather had passed
away around midnight. So knowing that I haven't
seen him since basically August last year, you
can imagine how much that tore me apart, especially
since I was one of the few people that was really
close to him aside from my mom. One of the topics
that I wanted to cover today, kind of in regards
to that, is the difference between competency
and sanity, okay? The reason I want to talk about
this is because I want to make it known, or at
least try to figure out if it's possible. Can
you be competent but insane, or insane but competent,
okay? In movies and books, the phrase not competent
to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity
are thrown around quite frequently. But what
are the differences between competency and sanity?
Are they interchangeable? These are things that
I want you guys to think about, as is kind of
the whole point of this channel. First things
first, the answer to that question, are they
interchangeable? The answer is no. The two concepts
play significantly different roles in court.
Competency determines whether a defendant will
be able to appear at trial and understand the
proceedings. Sanity determines whether a defendant
will be held responsible for his criminal actions.
Therefore, a defendant who is competent to stand
trial may nonetheless be found not guilty by
reason of insanity. However, if a defendant is
not... is found not competent to stand trial,
he will never be found guilty or not guilty,
for that matter, because no trial will be held
in the first place. I guess in layman's terms,
how do I put this? You can be declared legally
competent and also legally insane, asked the
Joker. Somehow he managed to pull that off. However,
you cannot be declared legally insane unless
you are also legally competent. So I'm going
to go into the basic differences between the
two concepts and kind of give a definition of
them and go a little more in depth in a few minutes.
So we're going to take a short break right here
real quick and we'll be right back. All right,
guys, and we are back. Let's start with the basic
difference between these two concepts. We're
going to start with, we're going to do a definition
of one or the other, and then we're going to
go a little more in depth with this, okay? So
definition, first off, competency is determined
by whether the defendant can understand the nature
and consequences of criminal proceedings against
him, specifically the Supreme Court. Have sufficient
present ability to consult with his or her lawyer
with reasonable degree of rational understanding.
And two, he or she must have a rational as well
as a factual understanding of the proceedings
against him or her. Meanwhile, the definition
of insanity varies between states and concerns
the criminal acts allegedly committed by the
defendant. For example, some states determine
insanity by whether the defendant understood
the nature and quality of his acts or did not
know that his acts were wrong. Other states have
different definitions. Some states do not have
an insanity defense at all. And keep in mind,
this is... Not exactly applicable to everybody,
as some states still side with the old rules
from back when Andrew Jackson was president,
and they don't see minorities as equals, so they
may or may not even side with the fact that the
client was insane. They may or may state that
he's guilty regardless because of his skin color
or her skin color, okay? The decision maker here
is that... How do I put this? Basically, competency
is determined by the judge, and insanity is determined
by the jury, okay? This is all based on, you
know, the timing of the termination when they
figure it out. Competency is usually determined
before the beginning of the trial. However, insanity,
on the other hand, is determined at the end of
the trial with the verdict, okay? Now, I can
understand this raising a few issues here, so...
Let's go ahead and go a little bit deeper. Competency
can be raised as an issue by a party or based
on the judge's observations of the defendant.
If there is a reasonable basis to believe that
competency is a issue, the court has an absolute
duty to order an evaluation. Based on the outcome
of the evaluation, the judge will determine whether
the defendant is competent to stand trial. Now,
insanity, on the other hand, is an affirmative
defense that must be pled by the defendant. Okay?
Source of law on this... How do I put this? The
competency requirement arises from United States
federal law as a guarantee under the due process
clause of the Constitution. Meanwhile, the insanity
defense is determined by state law and varied
between states. So, some states do not have the
insanity defense at all, but all states must
consider competency because it's a matter of
constitutionality. Oh, you know what? Let's take
a short break right here and I'll be right back.
And we're back. Now, I took a second here to
stop and think. Just because I have notes doesn't
mean I know everything, so I still have to look
up some information. But when I made that last
comment just now about the source of the law,
it may be considered the time frame. Keep this
in mind. When evaluating competency, the judge
will consider the defendant's mental state at
the time of the legal proceedings and trial.
When evaluating insanity, however, the jury will
consider the defendant's mental state at the
time the alleged crime was committed, not so
much his current presence in the courtroom. And,
you know, with that there are consequences. When
a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial,
it merely causes a... How do I put it? A hiatus
in the criminal proceedings. In general, the
mentally ill defendant is expected to receive
treatment until he is deemed restored to competency,
at which point the trial would then proceed.
Keep this in mind. In 1972, the Supreme Court
held the defendant deemed incompetent may not
be held for longer period than is reasonable
to determine whether he or she will be able to
attain competency in the foreseeable future.
However, if a defendant is found insane, he will
most likely be committed to a psychiatric ward
or an insane asylum. Procedures vary depending
on the state. Like I mentioned before, some states
require a commitment hearing. Others do it automatically.
Length of time of commitment also varies. Studies
show the defendant found not guilty by reason
of insanity are likely to spend as much or more
time confined to a psych ward as they would have
if they had went to prison instead. For some
places, especially racist states that still haven't
gotten over their past issues, for them, the
easiest thing they can do, if they can't send
you to jail, they will send you to a psych ward.
Alright? There are many different applications
of this, too. Let's say that a husband is prone
to violent psychotic episodes that last for a
few hours, but that... when he is not experiencing
an episode he thinks and acts fairly normal like
a regular human being for lack there of a better
word or whatever the hell normal is for a regular
human being um he ends up killing his wife during
one of these episodes he would most likely be
deemed competent to stand trial but also be acquitted
by reason of insanity okay now let's consider
a different solution that one was a bit harsh
i'm sorry uh Say that a wife has trouble understanding
her surroundings because of a hallucinatory mental
illness, okay? Paranoid schizophrenic or something.
I'm just giving an example. I don't know exactly
what that is yet. I will do a podcast on it.
Don't get me wrong. So, back on topic. She has
trouble understanding her surroundings because
of a hallucinatory... mental illness and perpetually
believes that she is still in middle school for
whatever reason. One day, she finds out that
her husband cheated on her, gets angry, and then
kills him. At the beginning of the criminal proceedings,
she sincerely believes that the courtroom is
her middle school auditorium. That the proceedings
are a homecoming dance or something. That the
lawyers are students and that the judge is the
principal. Which, now that you think about it,
kind of does make sense. That aside, though.
In this case, she would be deemed incompetent
to stand trial. Actually, as a side note... If
the wife's case were to go on trial, she would
probably be found guilty because her killing
had nothing to do with her mental illness. However,
she would never go to trial unless or until she's
deemed to have reached a competency level that
is suitable. Okay? Or at least they deem her
as human again. We're back. That is awesome.
Welcome back. All right. So continuing with the
topic here, let me give you a quick disclaimer.
Most of the information I've given you is just
for informational purposes. It's not for the
purpose of providing legal advice or anything.
You should still contact your attorney. to obtain
advice with respect to any particular issues
or problems you have, okay? Use of this information
for whatever reason doesn't help you solve your
problems. If anything, it'll create a topic for
you to talk about with your attorney to help
you solve any problems if you're having any psychiatric
problems or such. You know, you want to get yourself
checked out, but I would recommend talking to
your attorney first, okay? All right, so with
that being said, both the topics, both the things,
competency and incompetency, sanity or insanity,
each serve a purpose. They have their own roles
that they play, okay? It doesn't really matter
which is which. They're two completely different
things. It's the same with perseverance versus
preservation. Preservation, sorry. They mean
similar, but they're not the same things. Insanity
is a mental illness of such severe nature. That
a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality.
They cannot conduct him or herself or their affairs
due to psychosis or is subject to uncontrollable
impulsive behavior. Like the woman who thought
that the entire courtroom was her 8th grade class.
The determining factor between each is pretty
clear. To be clear... Insanity is a legal term
pertaining to a defendant's ability to determine
right from wrong when a crime is committed. And
based off of that definition, insanity is a concept
discussed in court. So to help distinguish guilt
from innocence if it's informed by mental health
professionals. But the term today is primarily
legal. Psychological. So there's no insane diagnosis.
Listed in the DSM. Keep that in mind. There's
no nervous breakdown either. But again. That's
another topic. So. Keep this in mind. When. Considering
these two topics. Especially when you go into
court. If the person that you're trying to condemn.
Can even be condemned in the first place. That
way you're not wasting time and or money. Alright.
If the person's a psychopath. Then trying to
get him convicted. For something that he did.
For something to jail. Is probably going to be
a lot harder. Than trying to get him convicted.
And sent to an insane asylum. Okay. So with that.
This has been food for thought. Thoughts if it
were you. Competency versus incompetency. Sanity
versus insanity. This is your host, Neogentrix.
I hope to hear from you guys again in the future,
and I thank you guys for listening. If you like
my channel, feel free to subscribe on anchor
.fm forward slash neogentrix. Show your support
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You can subscribe on there. I'm also available
on Google Play and iTunes. So, enjoy the rest
of your day. I look forward to hearing from you
guys for the rest of the week.