2018 Vermont Statutes
Title 13 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Chapter 157 - Insanity As A Defense
§ 4816 Scope of examination; report; evidence

§ 4816. Scope of examination; report; evidence

(a) Examinations provided for in section 4815 of this title shall have reference to:

(1) mental competency of the person examined to stand trial for the alleged offense; and

(2) sanity of the person examined at the time of the alleged offense.

(b) A competency evaluation for an individual thought to have a developmental disability shall include a current evaluation by a psychologist skilled in assessing individuals with developmental disabilities.

(c) As soon as practicable after the examination has been completed, the examining psychiatrist or psychologist, if applicable, shall prepare a report containing findings in regard to each of the matters listed in subsection (a) of this section. The report shall be transmitted to the court issuing the order for examination, and copies of the report sent to the State's Attorney, and to the respondent's attorney if the respondent is represented by counsel.

(d) No statement made in the course of the examination by the person examined, whether or not he or she has consented to the examination, shall be admitted as evidence in any criminal proceeding for the purpose of proving the commission of a criminal offense or for the purpose of impeaching testimony of the person examined.

(e) The relevant portion of a psychiatrist's report shall be admitted into evidence as an exhibit on the issue of the person's mental competency to stand trial and the opinion shall be conclusive on the issue if agreed to by the parties and if found by the court to be relevant and probative on the issue.

(f) Introduction of a report under subsection (d) of this section shall not preclude either party or the court from calling the psychiatrist who wrote the report as a witness or from calling witnesses or introducing other relevant evidence. Any witness called by either party on the issue of the defendant's competency shall be at the State's expense, or, if called by the court, at the court's expense. (Added 1969, No. 20, § 3; amended 1995, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2009, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § C25a; 2009, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § F.6.)