Legal News

Calif. Supreme Court rules prosecutors don't have right to mental exams

By Jason Siegel

Prosecutors can't make a criminal defendant undergo a mental examination by one of their experts, the California Supreme Court ruled.

The high court ruled unanimously yesterday that:
1. "A mental examination is a form of discovery subject to the criminal discovery statutes"
2. Court rulings before 1990 that granted prosecutors the right to a mental exam by one of their experts "was superseded by the enactment of the criminal discover statutes in 1990" (Prop. 115)
3. no authorization to order such access is provided to a trial court by the U.S. Constitution, the criminal discovery statutes (Penal Code § 1054) or any other statutes

The decision in Verdin v. Superior Court of Riverside County overturned a ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The petitioner in the case, a Beaumont man accused of attempted murder and spousal abuse, intends to rely on a diminished actuality defense -- "that as a result of his voluntary intoxication or mental condition, he did not actually entertain the requisite mental state for the charged crimes," the high court wrote in its decision. He plans to rely on a psychiatrist who examined him.

"California Supremes Limit DAs on Mental Exams," The Recorder
"Court rules against mental evaluation," The Press-Enterprise

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on June 03, 2008 (boomark / email).