2006 Code of Virginia § 19.2-182.2 - Verdict of acquittal by reason of insanity to state the fact; temporary custody and evaluatio...

19.2-182.2. Verdict of acquittal by reason of insanity to state the fact;temporary custody and evaluation.

When the defense is insanity of the defendant at the time the offense wascommitted, the jurors shall be instructed, if they acquit him on that ground,to state the fact with their verdict. The court shall place the person soacquitted ("the acquittee") in temporary custody of the Commissioner ofMental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services (hereinafterreferred to in this chapter as the "Commissioner") for evaluation as towhether the acquittee may be released with or without conditions or requirescommitment. The evaluation shall be conducted by (i) one psychiatrist and(ii) one clinical psychologist. The psychiatrist or clinical psychologistshall be skilled in the diagnosis of mental illness and mental retardationand qualified by training and experience to perform such evaluations. TheCommissioner shall appoint both evaluators, at least one of whom shall not beemployed by the hospital in which the acquittee is primarily confined. Theevaluators shall determine whether the acquittee is currently mentally ill ormentally retarded and shall assess the acquittee and report on his conditionand need for hospitalization with respect to the factors set forth in 19.2-182.3. The evaluators shall conduct their examinations and report theirfindings separately within forty-five days of the Commissioner's assumptionof custody. Copies of the report shall be sent to the acquittee's attorney,the attorney for the Commonwealth for the jurisdiction where the person wasacquitted and the community services board serving the locality where theacquittee was acquitted. If either evaluator recommends conditional releaseor release without conditions of the acquittee, the court shall extend theevaluation period to permit the hospital in which the acquittee is confinedand the appropriate community services board to jointly prepare a conditionalrelease or discharge plan, as applicable, prior to the hearing.

(1991, c. 427; 1993, c. 295; 1996, cc. 937, 980.)