State v. Hollars
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals holding that substantial evidence existed to create a bona fide doubt as to Defendant's competency and that, therefore, the trial court's failure to make an inquiry into Defendant's competency at trial violated his due process rights, holding that the trial court committed prejudicial error by failing to conduct a competency hearing for Defendant.
After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of three counts each of second-degree sexual offense and taking indecent liberties with a child. On appeal, Defendant argued that events that occurred during trial combined with his lengthy history of mental illness, which included periods of incompetence to stand trial, created a duty upon the trial court sua sponte to inquire into his competency to stand trial. The court of appeals remanded the case to the trial court for a termination of whether a meaningful retrospective hearing could be conducted on the issue of Defendant's competency at the time of his trial. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, in light of substantial evidence that was sufficient to raise a bona fide doubt regarding Defendant's competency to stand trial, the trial court committed prejudicial error by failing to conduct a competency hearing for Defendant.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.