O.C.G.A. § 17-10-69 (2019)
Prior adjudication as presumption of mental competency
If an applicant is determined to have previously filed an application under this article and has previously been determined to be mentally competent to be executed, such prior adjudication shall act as a presumption of mental competency and the applicant shall not be entitled to a new hearing on the question of mental competency to be executed absent the applicant’s making a prima-facie showing of a substantial change in circumstances sufficient to raise a significant question as to the applicant’s mental competency to be executed at the time of filing of any subsequent applications.
History
Code 1981, § 17-10-69, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1003, § 2.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Habeas corpus proceeding. - O.C.G.A. § 17-10-60 et seq. is the exclusive procedure for raising a mentally incompetent to be executed challenge after sentencing, O.C.G.A. § 17-10-62, and creates a rebuttable presumption against
re-litigation of a finding of competency instead of applying the stricter habeas procedural default standard, O.C.G.A. § 17-10-69; accordingly, this issue should not arise in habeas proceedings in Georgia. Perkins v. Hall, 288 Ga. 810, 708
S.E.2d 335 (2011), overruled on other grounds by State v. Lane, 308 Ga. 10, 838 S.E.2d 808 (2020).