What is the difference between competent to stand trial and sanity?
Competent to stand trial refers to a person’s mental condition at the time that he or she undergoes a court hearing or trial when charged with a criminal offense. To be competent to stand trial, a person must be able to understand the nature and objective of the proceedings against him or her and be able to assist an attorney in his or her defense. Sanity refers to a person’s mental condition at the time of the alleged criminal offense. Therefore, a competent to stand trial evaluation focuses on how a person is mentally functioning at the time of the assessment, while a sanity evaluation examines a person’s mental functioning at the time of an offense. The court must order competent to stand trial and sanity evaluations to be completed.
