title: Characteristics of Misdemeanants Treated for Competency Restoration.
abstract: There are an estimated 60,000 evaluations annually for competence to stand trial for felony indictments and likely more for misdemeanor indictments. Thus, there is an increasing interest in determining factors associated with a defendant's likelihood of being restored to competence to stand trial. Although previous studies have found that a misdemeanor charge predicts significantly less likelihood of restoration of competence when compared with felony charges, states typically allow treatment facilities less time to restore misdemeanor defendants than felony defendants. As there are no studies examining factors associated with restoration of competence to stand trial for misdemeanor defendants, separately from felony defendants, we conducted a retrospective study to examine demographic, clinical, and forensic characteristics associated with restoration of competence to stand trial of misdemeanor defendants. Almost 70 percent of defendants regained competence to stand trial during the study period. When restorable, defendants regained competence in less than three weeks, on average, which addresses a current question in the field regarding time limits for restoration of competence to stand trial. Single marital status and length of stay in the treatment facility during restoration of competence to stand trial were significantly associated with restorability. States may consider such factors when developing and reviewing time limit policies in consideration of the Jackson v. Indiana ruling and when designing interventions aimed at restoring competence to stand trial to misdemeanor defendants in a cost-efficient manner.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Gillis is a Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Holoyda is a Resident in Psychiatry, Dr. Xiong is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Wilson is a Senior Statistician, Clinical and Translational Science Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Newman is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO. The project was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant UL1 TR000002. artha.gillis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Artha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gillis
authors.affiliation: Dr. Gillis is a Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Holoyda is a Resident in Psychiatry, Dr. Xiong is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Wilson is a Senior Statistician, Clinical and Translational Science Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Newman is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO. The project was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant UL1 TR000002.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holoyda
authors.affiliation: Dr. Gillis is a Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Holoyda is a Resident in Psychiatry, Dr. Xiong is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Wilson is a Senior Statistician, Clinical and Translational Science Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Newman is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO. The project was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant UL1 TR000002.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.affiliation: Dr. Gillis is a Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Holoyda is a Resident in Psychiatry, Dr. Xiong is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Wilson is a Senior Statistician, Clinical and Translational Science Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Newman is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO. The project was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant UL1 TR000002.
authors.forename: Machelle D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Dr. Gillis is a Fellow in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Holoyda is a Resident in Psychiatry, Dr. Xiong is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Wilson is a Senior Statistician, Clinical and Translational Science Center, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Newman is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO. The project was supported in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant UL1 TR000002.
authors.forename: Glen L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Xiong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult