Section 1372 Of Chapter 6. Inquiry Into The Competence Of The Defendant Before Trial Or After Conviction From California Penal Code >> Title 10. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 6.
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. (a) (1) If the medical director of the state hospital or
other facility to which the defendant is committed, or the community
program director, county mental health director, or regional center
director providing outpatient services, determines that the defendant
has regained mental competence, the director shall immediately
certify that fact to the court by filing a certificate of restoration
with the court by certified mail, return receipt requested. For
purposes of this section, the date of filing shall be the date on the
return receipt.
(2) The court's order committing an individual to a state hospital
or other treatment facility pursuant to Section 1370 shall include
direction that the sheriff shall redeliver the patient to the court
without any further order from the court upon receiving from the
state hospital or treatment facility a copy of the certificate of
restoration.
(3) The defendant shall be returned to the committing court in the
following manner:
(A) A patient who remains confined in a state hospital or other
treatment facility shall be redelivered to the sheriff of the county
from which the patient was committed. The sheriff shall immediately
return the person from the state hospital or other treatment facility
to the court for further proceedings.
(B) The patient who is on outpatient status shall be returned by
the sheriff to court through arrangements made by the outpatient
treatment supervisor.
(C) In all cases, the patient shall be returned to the committing
court no later than 10 days following the filing of a certificate of
restoration. The state shall only pay for 10 hospital days for
patients following the filing of a certificate of restoration of
competency. The State Department of State Hospitals shall report to
the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on an
annual basis in February, on the number of days that exceed the
10-day limit prescribed in this subparagraph. This report shall
include, but not be limited to, a data sheet that itemizes by county
the number of days that exceed this 10-day limit during the preceding
year.
(b) If the defendant becomes mentally competent after a
conservatorship has been established pursuant to the applicable
provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, Part 1 (commencing with
Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
and Section 1370, the conservator shall certify that fact to the
sheriff and district attorney of the county in which the defendant's
case is pending, defendant's attorney of record, and the committing
court.
(c) When a defendant is returned to court with a certification
that competence has been regained, the court shall notify either the
community program director, the county mental health director, or the
regional center director and the Director of Developmental Services,
as appropriate, of the date of any hearing on the defendant's
competence and whether or not the defendant was found by the court to
have recovered competence.
(d) If the committing court approves the certificate of
restoration to competence as to a person in custody, the court shall
hold a hearing to determine whether the person is entitled to be
admitted to bail or released on own recognizance status pending
conclusion of the proceedings. If the superior court approves the
certificate of restoration to competence regarding a person on
outpatient status, unless it appears that the person has refused to
come to court, that person shall remain released either on own
recognizance status, or, in the case of a developmentally disabled
person, either on the defendant's promise or on the promise of a
responsible adult to secure the person's appearance in court for
further proceedings. If the person has refused to come to court, the
court shall set bail and may place the person in custody until bail
is posted.
(e) A defendant subject to either subdivision (a) or (b) who is
not admitted to bail or released under subdivision (d) may, at the
discretion of the court, upon recommendation of the director of the
facility where the defendant is receiving treatment, be returned to
the hospital or facility of his or her original commitment or other
appropriate secure facility approved by the community program
director, the county mental health director, or the regional center
director. The recommendation submitted to the court shall be based on
the opinion that the person will need continued treatment in a
hospital or treatment facility in order to maintain competence to
stand trial or that placing the person in a jail environment would
create a substantial risk that the person would again become
incompetent to stand trial before criminal proceedings could be
resumed.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), if a defendant is returned by
the court to a hospital or other facility for the purpose of
maintaining competency to stand trial and that defendant is already
under civil commitment to that hospital or facility from another
county pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing
with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code) or as a developmentally disabled person committed pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of
Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the costs of housing
and treating the defendant in that facility following return
pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be the responsibility of the
original county of civil commitment.