If any person charged with any felony is held in confinement under indictment and the trial court shall have reasonable ground to doubt his sanity, the trial of such person for such offense shall be suspended until the jury shall inquire into the fact of such sanity, such jury to be impaneled from the regular jurors in attendance for the week or from a special venire, as the court may direct. If the jury shall find the accused sane at the time of its verdict, it shall make no other inquiry, and the trial in chief shall proceed. If it finds that he is insane at that time, the court shall make an order committing him to the Alabama state hospitals, where he must remain until he is restored to his right mind. When the superintendent of the hospitals shall be of opinion that such person is so restored, he shall forthwith, in writing, inform the judge and sheriff of such court of the fact, whereupon such person must be remanded to jail on an order of such judge and the criminal proceedings resumed. In no event shall such a person be set at large so long as such prosecution is pending or so long as he continues to be insane.
(Code 1896, §4941; Code 1907, §7178; Code 1923, §4575; Code 1940, T. 15, §426.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
25
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1979–2025 · leading case:
Ex Parte LaFlore, 445 So. 2d 932 (Ala. 1983).
Ex Parte LaFlore, 445 So. 2d 932 (Ala. 1983).
· cites it 5× “Later petitioner's attorneys filed a motion, requesting a hearing to determine her mental competency to stand trial.”
Lewis v. State, 380 So. 2d 970 (Ala. Crim. App. 1980).
· cites it 3× “Furthermore, the record shows that from the beginning of the proceedings until the sentence imposed upon defendant, the question of the mental condition of defendant was a matter of ceaseless serious concern, so much so that the trial court, acting pursuant to Ala.Code 1975 §…”
Anderson v. State, 510 So. 2d 578 (Ala. Crim. App. 1987).
· cites it 3× “1982), this court concluded that under the provisions of § 15-16-21, Code of Alabama 1975, if a defendant is under indictment for a felony and the trial court finds that there is a reasonable and bona fide doubt as to his sanity the trial court is obligated to further…”
Lam Luong v. State, 199 So. 3d 173 (Ala. Crim. App. 2016).
“) The trial court has been described as the initial “screening agent” for mental-health issues: “[Section 15-16-21, Ala.Code 1975] places the initial burden on the trial court to determine whether there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to doubt the accused’s sanity.”
Gay v. State, 562 So. 2d 283 (Ala. Crim. App. 1990).
· cites it 3× “Under Ala.Code 1975, § 15-16-21, the trial court shall suspend a trial to inquire into the accused's sanity, when the trial court "shall have reasonable ground to doubt his sanity.”
Pardue v. State, 571 So. 2d 320 (Ala. Crim. App. 1989).
“He takes issue, first, with the court's "exclusion" of the following testimony *325 on direct examination of Honorable Michael McInnish, an attorney who had been representing the defendant on another matter: "Q You were able to then continue to see him on an irregular basis? "A…”
Russell v. State, 715 So. 2d 866 (Ala. Crim. App. 1997).
· cites it 2× “If the trial court determines that reasonable grounds exist for a mental examination, the trial court shall appoint a psychiatrist or psychologist to examine the defendant and to report regarding the defendant's mental condition or order that such an examination be conducted by…”
Connell v. State, 7 So. 3d 1068 (Ala. Crim. App. 2008).
“1992): “ ‘Section 15-16-21, Code of Alabama 1975, states: *1079 “ ‘ “If any person charged with any felony is held in confinement under indictment and the trial court shall have reasonable ground to doubt his sanity, the trial of such person for such offense shall be suspended…”
Ex Parte Lankford, 564 So. 2d 41 (Ala. 1989).
· cites it 26× “The issue in this case is whether a circuit judge has the authority under Ala.Code 1975, § 15-16-21, to order a competency evaluation of an indicted defendant who has been found previously to be incompetent to stand trial and who is free on a pre-trial bond.”
Smith v. State, 213 So. 3d 108 (Ala. Crim. App. 2000).
““Section 15-16-21, Code of Alabama 1975, states: “ ‘If any person charged with any felony is held in confinement under indictment and the trial court shall have reasonable ground to doubt his sanity, the trial of such person for such offense shall be suspended until the jury…”
Jefferson v. State, 473 So. 2d 1100 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984).
“I Section 15-16-21, Code of Alabama 1975, provides, in part: "If any person charged with any felony is held in confinement under indictment and the trial court shall have reasonable ground to doubt his sanity, the trial of such person for such offense shall be suspended until…”
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