Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:211 – Procedures in handling defendants committed to mental institutions because of lack of capacity to stand trial
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:211
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
A. The medical staff of a mental institution to which a defendant is committed after he has been found not guilty by reason of insanity or after a court determines that he lacks mental capacity to proceed with a criminal trial shall review the defendant’s record after the first sixty days and after one hundred twenty days of commitment and every one hundred eighty days thereafter to determine his present mental condition and whether he is presently capable of being discharged, conditionally or unconditionally, or being placed on probation, without being a danger to others or himself, or presently capable of standing trial. The superintendent of the institution shall make such recommendations to the review panel or the court as provided for in Title XXI relating to insanity proceedings of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
B. The medical staff shall, as long as the defendant remains in the mental institution, have full authority to determine whether his condition is such as to require that he be confined in a security ward or place designated pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 28:25 for the confinement of patients charged with crimes or misdemeanors, or should be transferred into a different type of ward in the institution.
Acts 1966, No. 311, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1967; Acts 1987, No. 928, §3, eff. July 20, 1987; Acts 1988, No. 383, §2.