TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Adjudicative competence in the context of a defendant's absence from trial after a suicide attempt
JO  - The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
A1  - Williams, Joseph B.
SP  - 558
EP  - 565
VL  - 51
IS  - 4
N2  - Defendants who are facing criminal charges in the United States have a constitutional right to be present at trial. This right can be voluntarily waived; for such a waiver to be valid, the defendant must be competent to waive the right to be present at trial. There have been several cases where a defendant is absent from trial because of a suicide attempt, and in these cases the courts must determine whether it is necessary to pause the criminal trial to allow for a competence hearing to take place. The U.S. Supreme Court offered guidance on this matter in its ruling in Drope v. Missouri; however, the Court did not clearly define the threshold for requiring a competence hearing when defendants attempt suicide during trial. Subsequent judicial rulings have provided insights into how courts might proceed when a criminal defendant is absent from trial following a suicide attempt. This topic has relevance to forensic psychiatry, as forensic psychiatrists may be called upon to participate in evaluations of adjudicative competence in these scenarios.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1093-6793
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.230093-23
ID  - ref1
ER  -