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Functional Legal Capacities Competency

This document outlines four competency-relevant abilities needed for a defendant to be competent to stand trial: understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and ability to assist counsel. It defines each ability and provides examples of representative tests psychologists use to evaluate them, such as understanding the roles in court, weighing legal options, and making rational decisions about one's specific case.

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Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo
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41 views

Functional Legal Capacities Competency

This document outlines four competency-relevant abilities needed for a defendant to be competent to stand trial: understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and ability to assist counsel. It defines each ability and provides examples of representative tests psychologists use to evaluate them, such as understanding the roles in court, weighing legal options, and making rational decisions about one's specific case.

Uploaded by

Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Zapf and Roesch (2009) Competence-Relevant Abilities

• Psycholegal/functional legal capacities are those capacities necessary to support a legal


standard
• Determined by psychologists—figure out how to take assess a legal standard
• In competence, generally is referring to expectations of a defendant throughout the court
process

Understanding

• “Factual understanding” prong


• General knowledge of the court system, not necessarily specifics of an event
• Representative abilities:
o knowing the roles of key participants within the legal process
o knowing the current charges facing the defendant
o knowing the elements of an offense
o knowing the general consequences of a conviction
o knowing rights waived in making a guilty plea

Appreciation

• “Rational understanding” prong


• Encompasses knowledge/accurate perception of information relevant to the defendant’s
specific case
• Representative abilities:
o Realistic assessment of likelihood that they will be found guilty
o Consequences of a conviction in that specific case and how they will impact the
defendant
o Realistic appraisal of available legal defenses and likely outcomes
o Realistic appraisal of whether or not to testify
o Ability to make rational decisions regarding the specific case

Reasoning

• “Rational understanding” prong


• Refers to ability to consider and weigh relevant pieces of information in a rational manner in
arriving at a decision or a conclusion
• Representative abilities:
o Distinguish more relevant from less relevant information
o Seek relevant information
o Weight and evaluate various legal options and their consequences
o Make comparisons
o Provide reality-based justification for making particular case-specific decisions or
conclusions

Assisting Counsel

• “Consult with counsel/assist with defense” prong


• Representative abilities:
o Consult with counsel
o Relate to attorney
o Plan legal strategy
o Engage in defense
o Challenge witnesses
o Testify relevantly
o Manage courtroom behavior

Decision Making

• How does a defendant approach decision making both generally and in his/her specific case?
o Common decisions (not exhaustive):
▪ Plead guilty or not guilty
▪ Determine if plea bargains are favorable or not
▪ What type of defense or legal strategy to pursue
▪ Whether testifying is a good idea
o Assess how flexible the person is to new information/changing circumstances

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