N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.30 – Fitness to proceed; order of examination
§ 730.30 Fitness to proceed; order of examination.
Terms Used In N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.30
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Director: means (a) the director of a state hospital operated by the office of mental health or the director of a developmental center operated by the office for people with developmental disabilities, or (b) the director of a hospital operated by any local government of the state that has been certified by the commissioner as having adequate facilities to examine a defendant to determine if he is an incapacitated person, or (c) the director of community mental health services. See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.10
- Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
- Incapacitated person: means a defendant who as a result of mental disease or defect lacks capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his own defense. See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.10
- Order of examination: means an order issued to an appropriate director by a criminal court wherein a criminal action is pending against a defendant or by a court evaluating the capacity of an alleged violator in a parole revocation proceeding pursuant to subparagraph (xii) of paragraph (f) of subdivision three of § 259-i of the executive law, or by a family court pursuant to section 322. See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.10
- Psychiatric examiner: means a qualified psychiatrist or a certified psychologist who has been designated by a director to examine a defendant pursuant to an order of examination. See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law 730.10
1. At any time after a defendant is arraigned upon an accusatory instrument other than a felony complaint and before the imposition of sentence, or at any time after a defendant is arraigned upon a felony complaint and before he is held for the action of the grand jury, the court wherein the criminal action is pending must issue an order of examination when it is of the opinion that the defendant may be an incapacitated person.
2. When the examination reports submitted to the court show that each psychiatric examiner is of the opinion that the defendant is not an incapacitated person, the court may, on its own motion, conduct a hearing to determine the issue of capacity, and it must conduct a hearing upon motion therefor by the defendant or by the district attorney. If no motion for a hearing is made, the criminal action against the defendant must proceed. If, following a hearing, the court is satisfied that the defendant is not an incapacitated person, the criminal action against him must proceed; if the court is not so satisfied, it must issue a further order of examination directing that the defendant be examined by different psychiatric examiners designated by the director.
3. When the examination reports submitted to the court show that each psychiatric examiner is of the opinion that the defendant is an incapacitated person, the court may, on its own motion, conduct a hearing to determine the issue of capacity and it must conduct such hearing upon motion therefor by the defendant or by the district attorney.
4. When the examination reports submitted to the court show that the psychiatric examiners are not unanimous in their opinion as to whether the defendant is or is not an incapacitated person, or when the examination reports submitted to the superior court show that the psychiatric examiners are not unanimous in their opinion as to whether the defendant is or is not a dangerous incapacitated person, the court must conduct a hearing to determine the issue of capacity or dangerousness.