The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument for the assessment of competence to stand trial in criminal defendants with mental retardation. Three experiments were conducted on the instrument developed, Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants with Mental Retardation (CAST-MR). Experiment 1 consisted of three pilot testings with mentally retarded group home residents, Experiment 2 an expert appraisal process and readability analysis, and Experiment 3 a field testing with four groups of criminal defendants in five sites. Three forms of reliability-internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater-and three forms of validity-content, construct, and criterion-related-were investigated. The results of the reliability and validity analyses indicate that the CAST-MR may be a valid and reliable instrument for assessment of competence to stand trial in criminal defendants with mental retardation.
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