1. If at any stage of a criminal proceeding the defendant or the defendant’s attorney, upon
application to the court, alleges specific facts showing that the defendant is suffering from a
mental disorder which prevents the defendant from appreciating the charge, understanding
the proceedings, or assisting effectively in the defense, the court shall suspend further
proceedings and determine if probable cause exists to sustain the allegations. The applicant
has the burden of establishing probable cause. The court may on its own motion schedule
a hearing to determine probable cause if the defendant or defendant’s attorney has failed
or refused to make an application under this section and the court finds that there are
specific facts showing that a hearing should be held on that question. The defendant shall
not be compelled to testify at the hearing and any testimony of the defendant given during
the hearing shall not be admissible on the issue of guilt, except such testimony shall be
admissible in proceedings under section 811.2, subsection 8, and section 811.8, and in
perjury proceedings.
2. Upon a finding of probable cause sustaining the allegations, the court shall suspend
further criminal proceedings and order the defendant to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to
determine whether the defendant is suffering a mental disorder which prevents the defendant
from appreciating the charge, understanding the proceedings, or assisting effectively in the
defense. The order shall also authorize the evaluator to provide treatment necessary and
appropriate to facilitate the evaluation. If an evaluation has been conducted within thirty
days of the probable cause finding, the court is not required to order a new evaluation and
may use the recent evaluation during a hearing under this chapter. Any party is entitled to a
separate psychiatric evaluation by a psychiatrist or licensed, doctorate-level psychologist of
their own choosing.
[C51, §3260, 3261; R60, §5015, 5016; C73, §4620, 4621; C97, §5540; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39,
§13905; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §783.1; C79, 81, §812.3]
2004 Acts, ch 1084, §5
Referred to in §812.5, 812.8
\n
Notes of Decisions
State v. Lucas, 323 N.W.2d 228 (Iowa 1982).
· cites it 24× “Defendant’s claims of error all evolve from the failure of the trial court to hold a competency hearing under section 812.3, The Code. He (1) attacks the procedures of the trial court in accepting the guilty plea without a competency hearing, (2) claims denial of due process…”
State v. Rhode, 503 N.W.2d 27 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993).
· cites it 24× “3 (1989) provides: If at any stage of a criminal proceeding it reasonably appears that the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder which prevents the defendant from appreciating the charge, understanding the proceedings, or assisting effectively in the defense, further…”
Jones v. State, 479 N.W.2d 265 (Iowa 1991).
· cites it 8× “More specifically, section 812.3 provides, in part, as follows: If at any stage of a criminal proceeding it reasonably appears that the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder which prevents the defendant from appreciating the charge, understanding the proceedings, or…”
State v. Kempf, 282 N.W.2d 704 (Iowa 1979).
· cites it 11× “See § 812.3, The Code 1979; cf. Carstens v. Rans, 210 N.”
State v. Lyman, 776 N.W.2d 865 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 812.3 (1); accord Rieflin, 558 N.”
State v. Edwards, 507 N.W.2d 393 (Iowa 1993).
· cites it 10× “Iowa Code § 812.3 . This procedure, we think, satisfies the constitutional hearing requirement set out in Pate .”
State v. Rieflin, 558 N.W.2d 149 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 10× “Iowa Code § 812.3 . In other words, Iowa Code section 812.”
State v. Lyon, 293 N.W.2d 8 (Iowa 1980).
· cites it 13× “We set them out in full: Section 812.3. Mental incompetency of accused.”
In Re Det. of Cubbage, 671 N.W.2d 442 (Iowa 2003).
· cites it 4× “He believes that his statutory right of competency arises from Iowa Code section 812.3, which provides, If at any stage of a criminal proceeding it reasonably appears that the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder which prevents the defendant from appreciating the…”
State of Iowa v. Kenneth L. Lilly, 930 N.W.2d 319 (Iowa 2019).
· cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 812.3 (2) ; id. § 812.5 (defining the issue as whether "the defendant is suffering from a mental disorder which prevents the defendant from appreciating the charge, understanding the proceedings, or assisting effectively in the defense").”
State v. Johnson, 784 N.W.2d 192 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 2× “Discussion. About two months before Johnson’s scheduled trial on a first-degree murder charge, he requested a hearing on his competency to stand trial.”
— Iowa Code § 812.3(1) — 18 cases
— Iowa Code § 812.3(2) — 9 cases
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.