The Competency Hearing for Joan of Arc

Objective: Using various roles you will: 1. develop a stance on her competency. 2. provide all information to support that stance.

Defining Competency Provisions allowing for a delay of trial because a defendant was incompetent to proceed have long been a part of the legal due process. English common law allowed for an arraignment, trial, judgment, or execution of an alleged capital offender to be stayed if he or she "be(came)absolutely mad" (Hale, 1736, cited in Silten & Tulis, 1977, p. 1053).

Competent to Stand Trial Law Usually a trial won't proceed until a judge is satisfied that the defendant is able to: –understand the charges –help his attorney defend the case –and face his accusers. –See Dusky v. United States,Dusky v. United States

Dusky v. US It is not enough for the district judge to find that 'the defendant is oriented to time and place and has some recollection of events', but that the test must be whether he has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding -- and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him. (p.402)

Due Process requires Due process Due process requires that a defendant be competent to stand trial, which includes capacity to assist counsel and to understand the nature of the proceeding sufficiently to participate in and make decisions about rights afforded to defendants.

What should be used for Competency trial evaluations? There are several acceptable approaches for performance of competency to stand trial evaluations: –standardized methods such as state competency tests. –Traditionally, a full-fledged assessment involves: a clinical interview a mental status exam a psychological test a social history, but the modern trend is to rely upon an interview and/or a psychological test. There are a number of psychological tests available in standardized and local variations. Many evaluators use clinical measures of personality and intelligence, such as the standardized test MMPI-2

Objective: Establish if Joan of Arc is Competent to stand trial Your objective is to determine is Joan of Arc is competent to stand trial? Hint: what does it take to establish Competency?

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So was she competent? Asked if she knew she was in God's grace? she answered: 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me

The question is a scholarly trap. Church doctrine holds that no one can be certain of being in God's grace. –If she had answered yes, then she would have convicted herself of heresy. –If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt. –Notary Boisguillaume later testified that at the moment the court heard this reply, "Those who were interrogating her were stupefied