Idaho hospitals urge fast trial dates for restored defendants, who can slip back into incompetence while waiting in jail
The Idaho Press used a pending Boise case to explain how competency works in a state without an insanity defense. A judge who finds a defendant unfit commits that person for an initial 90 days, either to one of the two state hospitals or, for those considered dangerously mentally ill, to a special unit at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. Defendants who are restored go back to jail to face the charges.
A Health and Welfare spokeswoman said the hospitals usually recommend the earliest possible court date, because defendants can decompensate in the stress of jail and have to be sent back for another round of treatment. She said this can happen as many as three or four times for the same person in a single year. In the case at the center of the story, defense lawyers also said they struggled to find a forensic psychiatrist with time to work before the trial deadline.
The piece is a useful window into the restoration cycle in a state that lacks the insanity-defense off-ramp, and into how jail-based deterioration feeds repeat hospital commitments.
Source: With no insanity defense, Idaho hospitals urge quick court dates while defendant is still competent — Idaho Press, by Tommy Simmons
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