Page 5 - Competency Evaluation News Today

A federal judge has just found the shooter from the charleston church kcompetent to stand trial. that means jury selection will resume monday in his hate crime trial. it had been halted so he could undergo a competency evaluation. this young man is facing 33 federal charges related to the june, 2015, shooting deaths of nine people inside that historic mother emanuel ame church. all of the victims were african-american including the churchs political active pastor, the reverend clemente pinckney....

Insanity is about the state of mind at the time of the crime was committed. competency is about a present ability to undergo trial. thats what the judge is evaluating. >> the competency evaluation was completed before the jury selection. is that typical as well? >> very typical. the issue of competency has to be decided before you proceed to trial. as soon as a jury is sworn in, double jeopardy attached so this is resolved at pre-trial deciding whether or not a defendant is presently unable beca...

Said he had been hearing voices recently. this goes back to the question we ask often after these type of events, the overlap of mental illness and this pledge to terror. how does a defense attorney approach that? i think we have learned how the state approaches it. how would you reach that? >> well, the first step in any case where im concerned about my clients mental condition is i will have a competency evaluation done. and that is easy to do, even if its a public defender, you can get the st...

Woman. now his lawyers are asking for his competency to be evaluated before a new trial on sexual abuse allegations. a hearing scheduled on that matter today. if a competency evaluation is granted, it could delay the sex abuse trial along with the sentencing phase of his murder conviction. the sentencing already on hold as his lawyers are asking the judge to grant him a brand new trial. saying a federal inmate lied on the stand when he gave testimony about macneil confessing to the crime. doug b...

There that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if youre out there, please, pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me, please. i want to meet you. i want to meet you. i is what i is and im not changing. >> paula deen on the today show. lets get some latest on some of the other stories were following. randi? >> ariel castro was back in court on wednesday where a judge ordered a competency evaluation. hes facing hundreds of charges for allegedly h...

devices. why arent you being allowed to see whats going on inside the courtroom? a mistake -- dick cheney coming out swinging, being one of the few top republicans to say john mccains pick of sarah palin as vp was a bad choice. and they call her the missile, missy franklin, just 17 and already turning heads in london. the female michael phelps, as some call her, dives in today for two very crucial races. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning. thank you so much for joining us....

jim spellman. hes standing outside the theater. we can see the neon sign behind you. lets talk first about this video. i know its black and white. what more can you tell us? >> yeah, police describe this whole apartment as being designed to kill. all rigged up to a trip wire at the front door. it took them almost two days before they could figure out how to dismantle this safely, ult the matly using water to render inoperable this control box. fortunately there wasnt a timer to it beca...

It is very new onsed because the general public, they hear competency and they think insanity. you are right. it is different. the first thing we do is ask the judge for a competency evaluation. thats tonal see whether the client understands the charges against him. do i know why i am here? are you the judge? whats going on? who is this attorney standing next to me? thats understanding the charges. now, you have to bring the client to be fit to sit at trial and at that point, you use it as a def...

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