Deck 5: Consulting With Criminal Courts

Question 1

Which standard of proof is required in all criminal proceedings?

A) beyond a reasonable doubt
B) the Daubert standard
C) preponderance of the evidence
D) clear and convincing evidence

Answer 1

A

Question 2

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

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Research has shown that defendants who plead not guilty by reason of insanity comprise ______ of criminal cases.

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

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which statement is true about the insanity defense?

A) It is allowed in all 50 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.

Question 5

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 6

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 7

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 8

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 group is the exception?

A) serial killers
B) sexually violent predators
C) law enforcement personnel
D) juvenile delinquents

Question 9

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 10

Sanity refers to mental state ______, whereas competency refers to mental state ______.

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

Question 11

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

A) narcolepsy
B) schizophrenia
C) depression
D) psychopathy

Question 12

Which term is synonymous with sanity evaluation?

A) competency assessment
B) criminal responsibility evaluation
C) risk assessment
D) forensic amenability evaluation

Question 13

In Godinez v. Moran (1993), the Supreme Court ruled that the Dusky standards also apply to ______.

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

Question 14

Which high-profile defendant suffered from a paranoid personality disorder, was competent to stand trial, and had a trial considered an embarrassment to the justice system?

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

Question 15

The chapter focuses on which three areas of forensic assessment?

A) competency to stand trial, competency to waive one's rights, and competency to serve as one's own lawyer
B) psychiatry, psychology, and social work
C) competency, insanity, and sentencing
D) restoration, restitution, and reestablishment

Question 16

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

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

Question 17

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 electroconvulsive therapy and antidepressants
D) involuntary civil commitment for at least 6 months

Question 18

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

A) agreeable to waiving 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 19

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

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

Question 20

Restoration to competency for an 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) family support

Question 21

Civil commitment of sexually violent predators requires evidence of mental ______.

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

Question 22

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 23

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 24

Which federal law sets the standard for determining insanity in federal courts?

A) the IDRA
B) the Durham Rule
C) the EEDIA
D) the Dusky Rule

Question 25

Imagine you are a psychologist who is conducting a psychosexual assessment on a convicted sex offender. Which of the following should you refrain from including in your report to the court?

A) a sadistic rapist classification
B) results of a validated risk assessment
C) treatment recommendations
D) background information on the offender

Question 26

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

A) dominant
B) determinant
C) intermittent
D) indeterminate

Question 27

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 28

Which of the following describes a 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 29

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 30

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 a valid treatment option available in all states.
D) It is increasing in numbers across the United States.

Question 31

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 32

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 33

Which individual would be eligible for the death penalty?

A) a juvenile sex offender who is under age 18
B) a 36-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

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the standard for determining competency to stand trial applies to all of the following EXCEPT ______.

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

Question 35

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

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

Question 36

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 37

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 38

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) comorbid mental disorders are rare in this population
D) treatment may not be provided once the individual is civilly committed

Question 39

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 40

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 41

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 42

Research suggests that the inclusion of a clinically diagnosed mental disorder is a strong predictor of a finding of incompetence.

Question 43

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

Question 44

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 45

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

Question 46

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

Question 47

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

Question 48

Rehabilitation is the dominant concern in determinate sentencing.

Question 49

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 50

Evaluations in which a clinician evaluates a defendant's competency to stand 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 51

Restoration to competency must be done in an institution.

Question 52

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

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

Question 53

Changes in the federal and state laws have made it more difficult for defendants pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to win acquittal.

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

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

Question 57

Most modern psychoactive medications have few side effects.

Question 58

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 59

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

Question 60

Immigration deportation proceedings do not carry a right to legal representation.

Question 61

Why do you think some psychologists have moral objections to participating in a death penalty case?

Question 62

Compare and contrast restoration to competency in an outpatient and inpatient setting.

Question 63

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 64

Explain SVPs and discuss concerns associated with them.

Question 65

List three reasons why competency evaluations are so common.

Question 66

Define malingering.

Question 67

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

Question 68

What do Theodore Kaczynski and Colin Ferguson have in common? How does Indiana v. Edwards (2008) pertain to both men?

Question 69

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