The Competency Hearing for
Joan of Arc
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,
http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/competent-to-stand-trial/
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)
http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/competent-to-stand-trial/
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.
http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/competent-to-stand-trial/
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?
map
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