In February of last year, Jessica Paige Greenback was arrested under suspicion of murder. It’s alleged that she shot her brother and father in the head after a dispute in their Canyon Country apartment. During pretrial proceedings, questions as to Greenback’s competency to stand trial were brought up by her attorney, and she was subsequently transferred to a mental health center to be given an evaluation. Upon that evaluation, it was deemed that Greenback was “incompetent to stand trial.”
Everyone accused of a crime is guaranteed the right to a “fair and speedy trial” as per the US Constitution. Sometimes, though, an individual is unable to contribute in a meaningful way in their trial, and this fact can bring up questions as to whether or not the trial was “fair.” In the State of California, for example, a person cannot stand trial or be convicted of a crime if they’re unable to understand what’s going on, or able to participate in their defense with a rational mind.
Whether or not a defendant is competent to stand trial is outlined in California Penal Code 1368 PC. An individual can be said to be mentally incompetent to stand trial if it is deemed that the individual is unable to understand why they’re on trial or if they’re unable to assist their lawyer in a “rational manner.” What this basically means is that a person can’t be convicted of a crime if they don’t understand, and are incapable of understanding, that their actions constituted a crime.
Whether or not someone is incompetent to stand trial probably sounds a lot like “pleading insanity,” but they’re actually two very different things. “Pleading insanity” is a legal defense that takes place in court during a trial. If an insanity plea is successful, it means that the person can never be found guilty or punished for the crime(s) they were accused of. Typically, “pleading insanity” will result in being committed to a mental institution.
Competency is different in that it is something that must be determined before a trial can even proceed. Also, if a person is initially found incompetent to stand trial, it does not preclude them from ever being convicted of that crime. Instead, the individual will typically receive mental health treatment with the intention of eventually regaining their competence and then going through the court process.
In the case of Jessica Paige Greenback, the treatment appears to have succeeded. In October of 2015, she was deemed competent to assist in her defense, and a trial date was set for March 7th.
