Forensic psychology is a specialty that involves the application of knowledge and techniques from the behavioral sciences to answer questions about individuals involved in legal proceedings

Adjunctive competence is refers to as having the mental competence to consult with legal counsel in a rational and understanding manner. The term now applies to nearly all aspects of the accused person's state of mind

They should use structured interviews that are very effective and accurate. These evaluations can be affected by things like amnesia and the issue of treating people against their will if they're so incompetent

If found IST, they can be sent in for treatment until they are competent to stand trial. If treatment is successful, they will move on like anyone else. If treatment is not successful, they will likely be placed in a mental health hospital for a period of time

The stripped-down version of the rule is that if the defendant doesn't understand exactly what it was that they did, then they can't be held accountable for their actions

The insanity case is only tried in about 9 out of 1,000 cases it succeeds in only about 23% of those cases (so about 1/500 people who face some sort of criminal misconduct are found to be insane)

Many critics say that there is no true-set way to determine insanity. Because of this up-in-the-air status, many states have come up with a "guilty but mentally ill" sentence which results in their treatment until able to be placed in a standard criminal facility

Affirmative defense is when in a trial, a position by the defendant that places the burden on the defendant to prove his or her claim. Insanity or self-defense is an example of an affirmative defense

The Brawner Rule states that a defendant is not responsible for criminal conduct when, because of a mental disease or defect, he or she laacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of the conduct or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law

Competence is the ability to understand implications of making legal decisions

Competence to stand trial is the sufficient ability to understand the the legal proceedings in which one is involved and to consult with one's attorney

Diminished capacity is a variation of the insanity defense that is applicable if the defendant (in the words of the law) lacks the ability to "meaningfully premeditate the crime"

Insanity is the principle legal doctrine permitting consideration of mental abnormality in assessign criminal liability. Those acquitted of criminal charges as NGRI are typically required to spend an indeterminate amount of time in a secure mental health facility until they are no longer a dangerous to themself or others

The M'Naghten Rule is one test for the insanity defense under which a defendant can be cleared if they either didn't know what they were doing because of a "diease of the mind" or if they couldn't contemplate the severity of what they had done

Mens rea is a guilty mind; it is the mental state which accompanies a guilty act

Prosecutorial discretion is the autonomy of presecutors to make decisions about criminal incidents. In the context of juvenile offenders, it involves deciding whether cases involving certain kinds of serious charges should be filed in juvenile or in adult courts

Reverse tranfer is when juveniles placed in adult court are returned to juvenile court

Statutory exclusion is a statute stipulating that certain serious offenses allegedly committed by an adolescent must be filed directly in adult court

To stipulate means to agree about a fact in a legal proceeding without further argument or examination

To be tranferred means that a juvenile has ben formally moved to adult court. Transfer laws allow for such a move under certain conditions

Ultimate opinion testimony is testimony that offers a conclusion aboutthe specific defendant or a specific witness in contrast to testimony about a general phenomenon