§876b Art. 76b. Lack of mental capacity or mental responsibility: commitment of accused for examination and treatment

Summary

If a person is found unable to understand the trial or to help with their defense, the officer who started the court-martial must send that person into the custody of the Attorney General. The Attorney General must follow the rules in 18 U.S.C. 4241(d). If the person is still not fit at the end of that hospitalization period, the Attorney General must follow 18 U.S.C. 4246. If the hospital director decides the person has recovered enough to stand trial, the director must tell the Attorney General, the convening officer, and the person’s lawyer. The director can keep the person for up to 30 days after that notice. After notice, the convening officer must take the person back unless the person is no longer under military law; if so, the Attorney General will decide what to do. When using 18 U.S.C. 4246 here, any reference to the court or court clerk is treated as meaning the convening officer, unless the person is no longer under military law, in which case the U.S. district court where the person is held is treated as the committing court. If a court-martial finds someone not guilty only because of lack of mental responsibility, the person must be sent to a suitable facility until they are eligible for release. The court-martial must hold the mental-condition hearing required by 18 U.S.C. 4243(c) and follow that section’s rules. The hearing’s report goes to the convening officer. If the court-martial does not find that release would be safe under 18 U.S.C. 4243(d), the convening officer may send the person to the Attorney General and the Attorney General must act under 18 U.S.C. 4243(e). Other parts of 18 U.S.C. 4243 and 4247 apply as stated, except that 4247(d)’s reference to 18 U.S.C. 3006A does not apply to hearings by a court-martial or convening officer. The chapter 313 rules in title 18 also apply as described here. If a person’s military status ends while they are in Attorney General custody, hospitalized, or on conditional medical release, the procedures in this section for people no longer under military law still continue to apply.