PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

A person found guilty, or the government, can ask for a hearing within ten days after the guilty verdict and before sentencing if there is solid information that the person may now have a mental illness or defect and needs custody for treatment. The judge can also order such a hearing on the judge’s own if there is reasonable cause. The court may order a psychiatric or psychological exam and report. If the exam says the person has a mental problem but does not need hospitalization, the report must also say what sentencing options could give the needed treatment. The hearing follows the usual procedures for these cases. If the court finds, by more likely than not, that the person now has a mental disease or defect and should be committed instead of jailed, the judge must commit the person to the Attorney General for hospitalization in a suitable facility. That commitment counts as a provisional prison sentence up to the maximum allowed for the offense. When the facility director files a certificate saying the person has recovered and no longer needs care, the court is told and, if the provisional sentence has not run out, the court will go ahead with final sentencing and can change the provisional sentence.

Title 18, §4244

Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Motion To Determine Present Mental Condition of Convicted Defendant.—

A defendant found guilty of an offense, or the attorney for the Government, may, within ten days after the defendant is found guilty, and prior to the time the defendant is sentenced, file a motion for a hearing on the present mental condition of the defendant if the motion is supported by substantial information indicating that the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect for the treatment of which he is in need of custody for care or treatment in a suitable facility. The court shall grant the motion, or at any time prior to the sentencing of the defendant shall order such a hearing on its own motion, if it is of the opinion that there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect for the treatment of which he is in need of custody for care or treatment in a suitable facility.

(b)Psychiatric or Psychological Examination and Report.—

Prior to the date of the hearing, the court may order that a psychiatric or psychological examination of the defendant be conducted, and that a psychiatric or psychological report be filed with the court, pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(b) and (c). In addition to the information required to be included in the psychiatric or psychological report pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(c), if the report includes an opinion by the examiners that the defendant is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect but that it is not such as to require his custody for care or treatment in a suitable facility, the report shall also include an opinion by the examiner concerning the sentencing alternatives that could best accord the defendant the kind of treatment he does need.

(c)Hearing.—

The hearing shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of section 4247(d).

(d)Determination and Disposition.—

If, after the hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect and that he should, in lieu of being sentenced to imprisonment, be committed to a suitable facility for care or treatment, the court shall commit the defendant to the custody of the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall hospitalize the defendant for care or treatment in a suitable facility. Such a commitment constitutes a provisional sentence of imprisonment to the maximum term authorized by law for the offense for which the defendant was found guilty.

(e)Discharge.—

When the director of the facility in which the defendant is hospitalized pursuant to subsection (d) determines that the defendant has recovered from his mental disease or defect to such an extent that he is no longer in need of custody for care or treatment in such a facility, he shall promptly file a certificate to that effect with the clerk of the court that ordered the commitment. The clerk shall send a copy of the certificate to the defendant’s counsel and to the attorney for the Government. If, at the time of the filing of the certificate, the provisional sentence imposed pursuant to subsection (d) has not expired, the court shall proceed finally to sentencing and may modify the provisional sentence.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1984—Pub. L. 98–473 amended section generally, substituting “Hospitalization of a convicted person suffering from mental disease or defect” for “Mental incompetency after arrest and before trial” in section catchline, and substituting provisions relating to motion, examination and report, hearing, etc., to determine present mental condition of convicted defendant, for provisions relating to motion, examination, etc., to determine the mental competency of a person after arrest and before trial.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

SeparabilityAct Sept. 7, 1949, ch. 535, § 4, 63 Stat. 688, provided that: “If any provision of Title 18, United States Code, sections 4244 to 4248, inclusive, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid, the remainder of the said sections and the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby.” Use of AppropriationsAct Sept. 7, 1949, ch. 535, § 3, 63 Stat. 688, provided that: “The Attorney General may authorize the use of any unexpended balance of the appropriation for ‘Support of United States prisoners’ for carrying out the purposes of Title 18, United States Code, sections 4244 to 4248, inclusive, or in payment of any expenses incidental thereto and not provided for by other specific appropriations.”

§4244 Hospitalization of a Convicted Person Suffering From Mental Disease or Defect