Demographic Variables Associated with Competence to Stand Trial Referral and Evaluation of Criminal Defendants with Mental Retardation

Abstract

Four groups of offenders at the pretrial level–-mentally typical defendants, mentally retarded defendants who were not referred for competence evaluations, and mentally retarded defendants recommended as competent or as incompetent–-were compared on selected demographic variables. The results indicated that mentally typical defendants were more likely to be on pretrial release and that mentally retarded defendants who had been recommended as incompetent to stand trial were more likely to be charged with crimes against persons. No significant difference was found among the four groups in number of prior offenses. No significant difference was found between the groups who had mental retardation in IQ score or in the presence of dual diagnosis. However, a second analysis, examining the defendants referred for competence evaluations and those not, found that defendants with mental retardation referred for evaluations were more likely to have a dual diagnosis. The implications of these findings to the issues of competence referral and evaluation of offenders with mental retardation are discussed.