KUTV investigation explains how Utah finds defendants incompetent and restores them, and how long it can take
KUTV's 2News Investigates used the competency review of murder defendant Nathaniel Kenyon to walk through how Utah decides whether a defendant can proceed to trial. Dr. Paul Whitehead, clinical director of the Utah State Hospital, explained that incompetence must stem from severe mental illness or intellectual disability and that the hospital's 125 forensic beds are mainly used for restoration, treating roughly 100 people a year.
The report says Salt Lake Metro Jail, where Kenyon was held, has another 22 forensic beds that also provide restoration. Whitehead said that restoration commonly takes months, sometimes much longer, and that for serious charges statutory limits allow stays of around three years, after which people who are not restored do not necessarily leave and their charges remain pending.
The piece is a rare in-depth public explainer on Utah's restoration pipeline at a time of heavy demand on forensic capacity.
Source: How defendants are found incompetent to face charges and restored to competence — KUTV 2News Investigates (via KJZZ), by MacKenzie Ryan & Wendy Halloran, KUTV
← Back to the map