354:
whether any doubt exists as to the defendant's competency, the trial court must consider any evidence suggestive of mental illness, even one factor alone in some circumstances, may be sufficient to warrant an evaluation. Therefore, the threshold for obtaining a competency evaluation is not very high. The court takes the position that when the issues is raised, regardless of who raises it, the motion should be granted. Further, the court suggests that it would be unconstitutional for a court to take the position that the defendant must bear all the burden for raising the issue. This has come to mean that in practice that rarely will a court refuse a request for a competency evaluation, if only to avoid a reversal by a higher court after a conviction on the grounds of a
31:
267:
that Drope had tried to kill her prior to trial. On day two of the trial, Drope shot himself in an attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Although he was absent in court, the trial court denied a motion for a mistrial on the grounds that his absence was voluntary and therefore the trial should continue. The jury found Drope
336:
Regardless of the relationship between mental illness and incompetence to stand trial, in light of the evidence presented of petitioner's behavior, including his suicide attempt, there was no opportunity to evaluate this relationship without his presence at trial. Therefore, the trial should have
100:
as to his competence to proceed to trial; that defendant's suicide attempt failed to create a reasonable doubt as to his competence; that he had not demonstrated any inadequacy in the legal procedures protecting his rights; that the trial court's finding that the defendant's absence from the trial
353:
The issue of competency to stand trial is concerned with the defendant's present level of functioning; the finding of a current mental illness is not necessarily relevant to a finding of
Incompetence to Stand Trial. In the current case, the Supreme Court clearly takes the position that in weighing
305:
as to his competence to proceed to trial. It further held that Drope's suicide attempt failed to create a reasonable doubt as to his competence and that he had not demonstrated any inadequacy in the legal procedures protecting his rights. The court also affirmed the trial court's finding that his
266:
requesting psychiatric evaluation and treatment. Attached to his motion was a psychiatric report recommending psychiatric treatment. This motion was denied and the case went to trial. Drope's wife testimony confirmed Drope's strange behavior described in the psychiatric report. She also testified
343:
The petitioner's due process rights would not be adequately protected by remanding the case for a psychiatric examination to determine whether he was, in fact, competent to stand trial in 1969. However, the State is free to retry him if he is competent to be tried at the time of another
275:. Drope filed a motion for a new trial on the grounds the trial court erred in continuing the trial when no evidence was offered to support that his absence was voluntary. This motion was denied based on the finding that his absence was voluntary.
119:
The
Missouri courts failed to give proper weight to the evidence suggesting petitioner's incompetence. There was insufficient inquiry to provide a basis for deciding the merits of waiving the defendant's right to be present at his
340:
Even if the petitioner's right to be present at the trial is a right that could be waived, there was an insufficient inquiry to provide a basis for deciding the merits of the issue of such a waiver.
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had been violated both by the court's failure to order a pretrial psychiatric evaluation and by the trial court's continuing the trial to its completion in his absence, was denied.
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In a unanimous decision, the
Supreme Court reversed and remanded. In the decision delivered by Chief Justice Burger, four factors were considered in deciding the reversal.
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to evaluate his competence to stand trial and also regarding the continuation in the defendant's absence of his trial for a capital offense.
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also affirmed, holding that neither the psychiatric evaluation attached to Drope's motion for a continuance nor his wife's testimony raised
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which the court granted based on Drope's claims that he was deprived of due process of law by the failure of the trial court to order a
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affirmed the decision. It also held that the trial court's denial of the motion for a continuance was not an abuse of
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Judgment reversed and remanded with directions to ensure competency evaluation before any further trial.
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The
Missouri courts failed to give proper weight to the evidence suggesting petitioner's incompetence.
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Psychological
Evaluations for the Courts: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers
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The
Missouri Court of Appeals held that the material presented did not raise
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case in which the Court held a
Missouri trial court deprived a defendant of
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Mentally
Disordered Offenders: Perspectives from Law and Social Science
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Melton, Gary; Petrila, John; Poythress, Norman G. (1997).
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been suspended until such an evaluation could be made.
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United States
Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court
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List of United States
Supreme Court cases, volume 420
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and as a result missed a portion of his trial for a
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242:after he was hospitalized following an attempted
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309:Drope petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on a
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439:Monahan, John; Steadman, Henry J. (1983).
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290:, alleging, among other things, that his
258:After Drope was indicted in 1969 for the
388:"Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162 (1975)"
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306:absence from the trial was voluntary.
262:of his wife, he filed a motion for a
18:1975 United States Supreme Court case
7:
675:County Court of Ulster Cty. v. Allen
1047:New York ex rel. Whitman v. Wilson
288:vacate the conviction and sentence
36:Supreme Court of the United States
14:
1119:United States Supreme Court cases
510:162 (1975) is available from:
443:. New York: Springer. p. 9.
1134:Adjudicative competence case law
286:. Drope's subsequent motion to
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390:. Oklahoma State Courts Network
1129:1975 in United States case law
1:
230:, 420 U.S. 162 (1975), was a
869:Youngblood v. West Virginia
232:United States Supreme Court
101:was voluntary was up help.
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542:Oyez (oral argument audio)
1114:Legal history of Missouri
1063:Mesarosh v. United States
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299:Missouri Court of Appeals
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45:Decided February 19, 1975
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1011:Prosecutorial misconduct
619:Holland v. United States
43:Argued November 13, 1974
918:Bishop v. United States
805:United States v. Bagley
797:California v. Trombetta
775:Giglio v. United States
926:Dusky v. United States
789:United States v. Agurs
627:Leary v. United States
319:competency examination
280:Missouri Supreme Court
240:competency examination
238:by failing to order a
218:U.S. Const. amend. XIV
152:William J. Brennan Jr.
982:Sell v. United States
845:United States v. Ruiz
813:Arizona v. Youngblood
715:Sullivan v. Louisiana
659:Patterson v. New York
643:Cool v. United States
292:constitutional rights
271:and sentenced him to
82:419; 43 L. Ed. 2d 103
958:Medina v. California
683:Sandstrom v. Montana
837:Strickler v. Greene
829:Wood v. Bartholomew
691:Jackson v. Virginia
533:Library of Congress
284:judicial discretion
180:Lewis F. Powell Jr.
1087:McDonough v. Smith
990:Indiana v. Edwards
974:Cooper v. Oklahoma
853:Illinois v. Fisher
723:Victor v. Nebraska
667:Taylor v. Kentucky
651:Mullaney v. Wilbur
204:Burger, joined by
144:William O. Douglas
140:Associate Justices
78:95 S. Ct. 896; 43
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1079:Napue v. Illinois
1031:Hysler v. Florida
1023:Mooney v. Holohan
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950:Riggins v. Nevada
942:Drope v. Missouri
906:Mental competence
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782:Moore v. Illinois
767:Brady v. Maryland
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707:Cage v. Louisiana
699:Murray v. Carrier
500:Drope v. Missouri
416:Drope v. Missouri
273:life imprisonment
227:Drope v. Missouri
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188:William Rehnquist
168:Thurgood Marshall
54:Drope v. Missouri
24:Drope v. Missouri
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1071:Alcorta v. Texas
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966:Godinez v. Moran
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392:. Retrieved
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585:due process
358:violation.
356:due process
264:continuance
236:due process
164:Byron White
1108:Categories
755:disclosure
315:certiorari
106:Subsequent
374:Footnotes
206:unanimous
80:L. Ed. 2d
60:Citations
587:case law
582:criminal
498:Text of
362:See also
325:Decision
201:Majority
472:127–130
244:suicide
114:Holding
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