{"id":206,"date":"2018-07-03T10:18:28","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T14:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clearwatersexcrimeslawyer.com\/?p=206"},"modified":"2026-01-31T09:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:22:32","slug":"competency-issues-in-florida-sex-crime-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.criminalattorneyclearwater.net\/blog\/competency-issues-in-florida-sex-crime-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Competency Issues in Florida Sex Crime Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida criminal cases involving a defendant with mental and emotional conditions can raise a number of complicated legal issues. The state\u2019s First District Court of Appeal made clear in a recent sex crime case<\/a> that there are certain circumstances in which a judge is required to hold a hearing to determine whether a person is competent to stand trial and to issue a written decision on that question before proceeding to trial.Defendant was charged with sexual battery of a person under twelve years of age and lewd or lascivious molestation of a person under twelve years of age, stemming from an undisclosed incident. Before trial on those charges, Defendant\u2019s lawyer asked the judge to first determine whether Defendant was sufficiently competent to stand trial.<\/p>\n

One court-appointed expert concluded that Defendant wasn\u2019t able to adequately understand the charges against him, but a second court-appointed expert said Defendant was competent to participate in the case. After a competency hearing, the trial court found that Defendant was sufficiently competent to proceed to trial. The judge made that decision orally, but didn\u2019t issue a written ruling on the competency issue.<\/p>\n

Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida criminal cases involving a defendant with mental and emotional conditions can raise a number of complicated legal issues. The state\u2019s First District Court of Appeal made clear in a recent sex crime case that there are certain circumstances in which a judge is required to hold a hearing to determine whether a person is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sex-crimes"],"yoast_head":"\nCompetency Hearings and Due Process<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When police search car, a sex crime charge case can hinge on competency issues sex crime. See how this ruling your defense. 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