Q: What are the elements necessary to find a person incompetent to stand trial in Florida in a misdemeanor DUI case?
A: There are no set guidelines or elements, but rather there is a procedure when competency is an issue. Pursuant to Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 3.210(b): If, at any material stage of a criminal proceeding, the court of its own motion, or on motion of counsel for the defendant or for the state, has reasonable ground to believe that the defendant is not mentally competent to proceed, the court shall immediately enter its order setting a time for a hearing to determine the defendant’s mental condition, which shall be held no later than 20 days after the date of the filing of the motion, and may order the defendant to be examined by no more than 3 experts, as needed, prior to the date of the hearing. Attorneys for the state and the defendant may be present at any examination ordered by the court.
A: There are no set elements and voluntary intoxication is not a defense. Generally three psychiatrists would have to declare you insane, and then you would be put away for the rest of your life in a mental institution. You just cannot claim temporary insanity in a DUI case, unless you really were temporarily insane. In order to do that, and it is probably way too late, you would need to be evaluated.
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