When a defendant is arraigned, she demonstrates bizarre behavior, talking to unseen people, failing
to respond to questions asked by the judge, and shouting obscenities during the proceedings.
The
judge orders an evaluation by a forensic examiner. The information of highest priority the examiner
will be asked to provide for the court is
a. the defendant's competence to proceed.
b. the cause of the defendant's courtroom behavior.
c. a reconstruction of the defendant's mental state at the time of the alleged crime.
d. a synopsis of the defendant's history, past diagnoses, personality traits, and
cognitive abilities.
A
Competence to proceed is defined as the capacity to assist one's attorney and to understand legal
proceedings. In the United States no one is tried unless deemed to be competent. An incompetent
individual is remanded to a locked facility for treatment to regain competency. Option B: This
information may or may not be ascertainable. It may be associated with competence to proceed but
is not the priority. Option C: Legal sanity is not the priority concern in this instance. Option D:
These data are of interest but are not the priority concern.
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