Deck 5: Consulting With Criminal Courts

Question 1

Which of the following disorders is the predominant diagnosis of individuals found incompetent to stand trial?

A) Narcolepsy
B) Schizophrenia
C) Depression
D) Psychopathy

Answer 1

Schizophrenia

Question 2

The trial of __________ was considered an embarrassment to the justice system and resulted in the Supreme Court's ruling that a defendant deemed competent to stand trial was not necessarily competent to serve as his or her own lawyer.

A) Stephen Raucci
B) Ted Bundy
C) O.J. Simpson
D) Colin Ferguson

Answer 2

Colin Ferguson

Question 3

Which statement is true about the insanity defense?

A) It is allowed in all fifty states.
B) It is allowed in a majority of states.
C) It is allowed in two states.
D) It is not allowed in the United States.

Answer 3

It is allowed in a majority of states.

Question 4

Which type of sentencing attempts to make the punishment fit the crime?

A) Dominant
B) Determinant
C) Intermittent
D) Indeterminate

Question 5

Who gets the report when a defense attorney requests a competency evaluation for his or her client?

A) The defense attorney
B) The judge.
C) The prosecutor
D) All parties

Question 6

Which term is synonymous with sanity evaluation?

A) Competency assessment
B) Criminal responsibility evaluation
C) Risk assessment
D) Forensic amenability evaluation

Question 7

Research suggests that insanity cases are often decided on __________ grounds.

A) legal
B) moral
C) psychiatric
D) sacred

Question 8

The Supreme Court case Godinez v. Moran, 1993, ruled that the Dusky standards also apply to

A) guilty pleas.
B) pre-arraignment proceedings.
C) waivers.
D) parole hearings.

Question 9

The most common method of restoring competence in defendants is:

A) a combination of medication and therapy.
B) community-based treatment.
C) a combination of ECT and antidepressants.
D) involuntary civil commitment for at least six months.

Question 10

The two-pronged Dusky standard specifies that a defendant must not only understand what is happening but also be

A) able to waive his or her rights.
B) represented by a competent attorney.
C) able to assist in his or her own defense.
D) undergoing restorative treatment.

Question 11

The R-CRAS is a forensic instrument used for assessing

A) adjudicative competence.
B) criminal responsibility.
C) cognitive functioning.
D) competence to plead guilty.

Question 12

Sanity refers to mental state __________; whereas competency refers to mental state __________.

A) at sentencing; during pretrial
B) at time of criminal justice proceedings; at time of crime
C) at time of crime; at time of criminal justice proceedings
D) during the evaluation; during the trial

Question 13

Golding et al. (1999) found that defendants who plead not guilty by reason of insanity comprise __________ of criminal cases.

A) 1% to 3%
B) 5% to 7%
C) 13% to 15%
D) 23 to 25%

Question 14

According to the text, outpatient __________ is more common than outpatient __________.

A) evaluation; treatment
B) therapy; medication
C) hospitalization; sentencing
D) referrals; assessments

Question 15

What is the most frequent outcome for those found NGRI?

A) The defendant is sent home under house arrest.
B) The defendant is hospitalized.
C) The defendant is sent home with case management services.
D) The defendant is set free.

Question 16

The law states that an individual found NGRI cannot be held solely based on dangerousness if there is no longer evidence of mental illness. Which one of the following groups is the exception?

A) Serial killers
B) Sexually violent predators
C) Law enforcement personnel
D) Juvenile delinquents

Question 17

Restoration to competency for individual found incompetent to stand trial should focus not only on decisional capacities, but also on

A) improving one's physical health.
B) education about the legal system.
C) medication compliance.
D) involvement of one's family.

Question 18

Which standard of proof is required in all criminal and delinquency proceedings?

A) Beyond a reasonable doubt
B) The Daubert standard
C) Preponderance of the evidence
D) Clear and convincing evidence

Question 19

Some states allow judge and jurors an alternative to NGRI. This middle ground verdict is called

A) Innocent but culpable
B) Guilty but mentally ill
C) Guilty but insane
D) Innocent but unstable.

Question 20

Competency to stand trial and competency to plea bargain are examples of __________ competencies.

A) institutional
B) dual-purpose
C) sanity
D) adjudicative

Question 21

Which Supreme Court ruling is an example of a sexually violent predator statute?

A) Kansas v. Hendricks
B) Loving v. Virginia
C) Mapp v. Ohio
D) Betts v. Brady

Question 22

In the sentencing of sex offenders, Heilbrun et al. urge examining psychologists to refrain from

A) applying labels or typologies to the offender.
B) using risk assessment instruments.
C) documenting effective treatment modalities.
D) directly interviewing the offender.

Question 23

When assessing risk in sexually violent predators, it is important for clinicians to be aware that

A) the majority of SVPs are also substance abusers.
B) the majority of SVPs have been falsely accused.
C) co-morbid mental disorders are rare in this population.
D) treatment may not be provided once the individual is civilly committed.

Question 24

All of the following are laws designed to address the problems associated with sex offending except

A) The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
B) Megan's Law.
C) Amber Alert.
D) The Gonzaga Law.

Question 25

Reports of competency evaluations should include all of the following except

A) the purpose of the evaluation.
B) details about the crime itself.
C) background information about the defendant.
D) scores on psychological measures.

Question 26

What is the primary concern with the GBMI verdict?

A) It does not guarantee treatment for the mentally ill individual.
B) It absolves a defendant of criminal responsibility.
C) It helps the defendant avoid a prison term.
D) It requires expensive modifications to the court system.

Question 27

Historically, criminal sentencing was based on the __________ model of corrections.

A) punitive
B) progressive
C) reactive
D) rehabilitative

Question 28

What is the federal law that sets the standard for determining insanity in federal courts?

A) The IDRA*
B) The Durham Rule
C) The EEDIA
D) The Dusky Rule

Question 29

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the standard for determining competency to stand trial did NOT apply to

A) pretrial proceedings.
B) proceedings before a person was indicted.
C) habeas corpus proceedings.
D) competency to plead guilty.

Question 30

Death penalty mitigation refers to

A) absolving one of guilt.
B) rendering a crime heinous.
C) ensuring a defendant receives the death penalty.
D) reducing one's sentence in order to avoid the death penalty.

Question 31

Which of the following is least likely to be considered a mitigating factor at the sentencing stage in a death penalty case?

A) Evidence of PTSD
B) Age of the offender
C) Gender of the offender
D) History of abuse by parents

Question 32

Civil commitment of sexually violent predators requires evidence of mental

A) disorder.
B) abnormality.
C) disability.
D) disease. status.

Question 33

Which one of the following individuals would be eligible for the death penalty?

A) A juvenile sex offender who is under age eighteen.
B) A thirty-six year old female who is intellectually disabled.
C) A female business owner who stabs her husband to death.
D) A male serial rapist whose victims are all alive.

Question 34

Forensic psychologists are generally advised not to include __________ in their competency reports.

A) the defendant's age
B) suggestions for restoring competency
C) diagnoses
D) results of assessment instruments.

Question 35

In regard to risk assessment, both the ethical code of the APA and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology state that psychologists should

A) not use risk assessment instruments to evaluate sex offenders.
B) use only validated risk assessment instruments to evaluate sex offenders.
C) not participate in death penalty sentencing of sex offenders.
D) use only clinical data when communicating their findings.

Question 36

In the typical criminal case where competency is in question,

A) at least three competency evaluations are performed.
B) at least two evaluations are conducted by different clinicians
C) the judge agrees with the recommendation made by the clinician.
D) the offender is released while the assessment is being conducted.

Question 37

Which U.S. Supreme Court case dealt with the forced medication of incompetent defendants?

A) Loughner v. U.S.
B) Sell v. U.S.
C) Colorado v. Connelly
D) Arizona v. Dusky

Question 38

What is the concern with sex offender typologies?

A) They are not useful in clinical practice
B) They are often too broad to be useful
C) They have not received empirical support
D) They are used primarily by psychiatrists

Question 39

Which statement is true about civil commitment of sexually violent predators?

A) It is allowed in every state but not the federal government
B) It is a strategy that is supported by most psychologists
C) It is allowed in all states as well as the federal government
D) It is increasing in numbers across the United States

Question 40

Which of the following is a commonality among all insanity standards?

A) A documented mental disorder
B) The ability to understand right and wrong
C) The presence of a guilty mind
D) A capacity to follow the law

Question 41

In United States v. Comstock, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not hold violent sexual offenders beyond their prison sentence if they were mentally ill.

Question 42

Describe how have federal and state laws have made acquittal by reason of insanity more difficult.

Question 43

A 17-year-old male offender is not eligible for the death penalty.

Question 44

In determinate sentencing, the judge has limited sentencing discretion.

Question 45

Once a defendant is medicated and rendered competent to stand trial, medication during the trial is often unnecessary.

Question 46

In which year was the death penalty reinstituted in the United States?

A) 1976
B) 1987
C) 1994
D) 2001

Question 47

How do the trials of Theodore Kaczynski and Colin Ferguson pertain to competency in individuals with mental disorders? What changes in the legal system did these two trials bring about?

Question 48

Which of the following illustrates a misconception that jurors have about the insanity defense?

A) The belief that medication does not effectively treat mental illness
B) The belief that all assessment instruments have been validated through a series of empirical studies
C) The belief that defendants found NGRI go free
D) The belief that defendants have no remorse for their crimes

Question 49

The U.S. Constitution requires judges to consider mitigating factors in capital cases.

Question 50

The majority of modern psychoactive medications have minimal side effects.

Question 51

A diagnosis of psychopathy is considered a mitigating factor in capital sentencing.

Question 52

List three reasons why competency evaluations are so common.

Question 53

Research has found that many sex offenders do not suffer from a mental disorder.

Question 54

Competency restoration must be done in an institution.

Question 55

Most clinicians regard the evaluation of criminal responsibility as a complex issue.

Question 56

The inclusion of a clinically diagnosed mental disorder is a strong predictor of a finding of incompetence.

Question 57

Research indicates that __________ are more sympathetic to the insanity defense than are __________.

A) psychologists; psychiatrists
B) psychiatrists; psychologists
C) judges; juries
D) juries; judges

Question 58

Persons who are conditionally released are less likely than convicted offenders
to commit new crimes.

Question 59

Most types of forensic mental health assessments require an appraisal of malingering.

Question 60

Evaluations in which a clinician evaluates a defendant's competency to stand and trial and criminal responsibility at the same time are called

A) insanity standards.
B) dual purpose evaluations.
C) criminal responsibility screenings.
D) product tests.

Question 61

According to the text, many psychologists are reluctant to participate in death penalty cases. What are the reasons for this? What is your opinion?

Question 62

What arguments can be made for and against the involuntary civil commitment of sex offenders at the conclusion of their prison sentences?

Question 63

Explain why someone would want to serve as her own lawyer in a criminal case.

Question 64

What was the Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. v. Comstock, 2010 regarding sexually violent predators?

Question 65

List three insanity tests and identify the question each test asks.

Question 66

Identify the problems that dual purpose evaluations present for a forensic psychologist. What is the primary advantage of this procedure?

Question 67

Describe what is involved in a psychosexual assessment. Include the reasons why clinicians are discouraged from using a typology to label a sex offender in a written report.

Question 68

Why is guilty but mentally ill a controversial verdict? What does this verdict often mean for defendants?

Question 69

Discuss the reasons that outpatient treatment to restore competence is rare.