Bill Text: CA SB349 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

---

Bill Title: Criminal procedure: competence to stand trial.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-04 - June 4 set for final hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB349 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB349-Amended.html

---

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 30, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 21, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  May 18, 2023

Amended  IN  Senate  March 30, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 349

---

Introduced by Senator Roth

February 08, 2023

---

An act to amend Sections 1368 and Section 1372 of the Penal Code, relating to criminal procedure.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 349, as amended, Roth. Criminal procedure: competence to stand trial.

Existing law prohibits a person who is found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial. Existing law requires a court, if a question is raised as to a defendant’s mental competence, to hold a hearing into the defendant’s mental competence. Under existing law, if a defendant is found incompetent, the court shall, as specified, order the defendant to treatment for the restoration of competence. Under existing law, if the defendant’s competence is restored, the defendant shall be returned to the court with a certificate of restoration.

This bill would provide that, if a question is raised by the court as to a defendant’s mental competence, the question of the defendant’s mental competence shall be presumed to apply to all felony cases pending against the defendant in that county, and that court shall retain jurisdiction over all such cases for the purpose of resolving the question of mental competence.

This bill would also clarify that a certificate of restoration of mental competence is presumed to apply to any pending felony case pending against the defendant in the same county at the time the defendant was restored to competence. competence, subject to specified exceptions.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

---

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.Section 1368 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

1368.

(a)If, during the pendency of an action and prior to judgment, or during revocation proceedings for a violation of probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community supervision, or parole, a doubt arises in the mind of the judge as to the mental competence of the defendant, the judge shall state that doubt in the record and inquire of the attorney for the defendant whether, in the opinion of the attorney, the defendant is mentally competent. If the defendant is not represented by counsel, the court shall appoint counsel. At the request of the defendant or their counsel or upon its own motion, the court shall recess the proceedings for as long as may be reasonably necessary to permit counsel to confer with the defendant and to form an opinion as to the mental competence of the defendant at that point in time.

(b)If counsel informs the court that they believe the defendant is or may be mentally incompetent, the court shall order that the question of the defendant’s mental competence is to be determined in a hearing which is held pursuant to Sections 1368.1 and 1369. If counsel informs the court that they believe the defendant is mentally competent, the court may nevertheless order a hearing. Any hearing shall be held in the superior court.

(c)Except as provided in Section 1368.1, when an order for a hearing into the present mental competence of the defendant has been issued, all proceedings in the criminal prosecution shall be suspended until the question of the present mental competence of the defendant has been determined.

If a jury has been impaneled and sworn to try the defendant, the jury shall be discharged only if it appears to the court that undue hardship to the jurors would result if the jury is retained on call.

If the defendant is declared mentally incompetent, the jury shall be discharged.

(d)If the court states a doubt as to the defendant’s mental competence in any felony criminal action or revocation proceeding, that doubt shall be presumed to exist in all felony cases pending against the defendant within that county, regardless of the date of filing, until the question of the defendant’s competence is resolved according to the provisions set forth in this chapter. This presumption is rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence.

(e)The court described in subdivision (d) shall, for the purpose of determining competence, retain jurisdiction of all cases pending against the defendant within that county, after a doubt has been stated as to the mental competence of the defendant.

(f)Subdivisions (d) and (e) shall not change the original commitment date or restoration period for a defendant found incompetent in a felony matter and ordered to be committed to a State Department of State Hospitals facility or other treatment facility pursuant to Section 1370. The existence of a doubt in any subsequent cases pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) shall not alter the commitment date or extend the restoration period. The commitment date and restoration period of the original felony shall be deemed controlling. The court shall notify the State Department of State Hospitals or other treatment facility through which a defendant is receiving restoration services of any case for which the court retains jurisdiction after the initial incompetence finding in the felony matter.

SEC. 2.SECTION 1.

 Section 1372 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

1372.

 (a) (1) If the medical director of a state hospital, a person designated by the State Department of State Hospitals at an entity contracted by the department to provide services to a defendant prior to placement in a treatment program or other facility to which the defendant is committed, or the community program director, county mental health director, or regional center director providing outpatient services, determines that the defendant has regained mental competence, the director or designee shall immediately certify that fact to the court by filing a certificate of restoration with the court by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by confidential electronic transmission. This shall include any certificate of restoration filed by the State Department of State Hospitals based on an evaluation conducted pursuant to Section 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. For purposes of this section, the date of filing shall be the date on the return receipt. A certificate of restoration is presumed to apply to any felony action pending against the defendant at the time of restoration, unless the court is presented with a substantial change in circumstances or with new evidence that casts doubt on the defendant’s competency, in which case this presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence. or if there is evidence that the facts articulated in the certification do not relate to a specific felony action pending against the defendant. This presumption only applies to felony actions for which the defendant has been committed for restoration treatment pursuant to Section 1370 pending in the same county.

(2) The court’s order committing an individual to a State Department of State Hospitals facility or other treatment facility pursuant to Section 1370 shall include direction that the sheriff shall redeliver the patient to the court without any further order from the court upon receiving from the state hospital or treatment facility a copy of the certificate of restoration.

(3) The defendant shall be returned to the committing court in the following manner, except that a defendant in county custody that the State Department of State Hospitals has evaluated pursuant to Section 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and filed a certificate of restoration with the court shall remain in county custody:

(A) A patient who remains confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility shall be redelivered to the sheriff of the county from which the patient was committed. The sheriff shall immediately return the person from the state hospital or other treatment facility to the court for further proceedings.

(B) The patient who is on outpatient status shall be returned by the sheriff to court through arrangements made by the outpatient treatment supervisor.

(C) In all cases, the patient shall be returned to the committing court no later than 10 days following the filing of a certificate of restoration. The state shall only pay for 10 hospital days for patients following the filing of a certificate of restoration of competency. The State Department of State Hospitals shall report to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on an annual basis in February, on the number of days that exceed the 10-day limit prescribed in this subparagraph. This report shall include, but not be limited to, a data sheet that itemizes by county the number of days that exceed this 10-day limit during the preceding year.

(b) If the defendant becomes mentally competent after a conservatorship has been established pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and Section 1370, the conservator shall certify that fact to the sheriff and district attorney of the county in which the defendant’s case is pending, defendant’s attorney of record, and the committing court.

(c) (1)  When a defendant is returned to court with a certification that competence has been regained, including a certification of restoration provided pursuant to Section 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the court shall notify either the community program director, the county mental health director, the State Department of State Hospitals, or the regional center director and the Director of Developmental Services, as appropriate, of the date of any hearing on the defendant’s competence and whether or not the defendant was found by the court to have recovered competence.

(2) If the court rejects a certificate of restoration, the court shall base its rejection on a written report of an evaluation, conducted by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, that the defendant is not competent. The evaluation shall be conducted after the certificate of restoration is filed with the committing court and in compliance with Section 1369. A copy of the written report shall be provided to the department pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1370. The court shall also provide a copy of the court order or minute order rejecting the certification of restoration to the department, pursuant to clause (ii) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1370, including any minute orders continuing the hearing for the court’s determination.

(d) If the committing court approves the certificate of restoration to competence as to a person in custody, the court shall notify the State Department of State Hospitals by providing the State Department of State Hospitals with a copy of the court order or minute order approving the certificate of restoration to competence. The court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the person is entitled to be admitted to bail or released on own recognizance status pending conclusion of the proceedings. If the superior court approves the certificate of restoration to competence regarding a person on outpatient status, unless it appears that the person has refused to come to court, that person shall remain released either on own recognizance status, or, in the case of a developmentally disabled person, either on the defendant’s promise or on the promise of a responsible adult to secure the person’s appearance in court for further proceedings. If the person has refused to come to court, the court shall set bail and may place the person in custody until bail is posted.

(e) A defendant subject to either subdivision (a) or (b) who is not admitted to bail or released under subdivision (d) may, at the discretion of the court, upon recommendation of the director of the facility where the defendant is receiving treatment, be returned to the hospital or facility of their original commitment or other appropriate secure facility approved by the community program director, the county mental health director, or the regional center director. The recommendation submitted to the court shall be based on the opinion that the person will need continued treatment in a hospital or treatment facility in order to maintain competence to stand trial or that placing the person in a jail environment would create a substantial risk that the person would again become incompetent to stand trial before criminal proceedings could be resumed.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), if a defendant is returned by the court to a hospital or other facility for the purpose of maintaining competency to stand trial and that defendant is already under civil commitment to that hospital or facility from another county pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) or as a developmentally disabled person committed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the costs of housing and treating the defendant in that facility following return pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be the responsibility of the original county of civil commitment.