HOUSE BILL No. 4882

 

 

August 16, 2017, Introduced by Rep. Lucido and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.

 

     A bill to amend 1927 PA 175, entitled

 

"The code of criminal procedure,"

 

by amending section 20a of chapter VIII (MCL 768.20a), as amended

 

by 2014 PA 76.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

CHAPTER VIII

 

     Sec. 20a. (1) If a defendant in a felony or misdemeanor case

 

proposes to offer in his or her defense testimony to establish his

 

or her insanity at the time of an alleged offense, the defendant

 

shall file and serve upon the court and the prosecuting attorney a

 

notice in writing of his or her intention to assert the defense of

 

insanity not less than 30 days before the date set for the trial of

 

the case, or at such other time as the court directs.

     (2) Upon receipt of a notice of an intention to assert the

 

defense of insanity, a court shall order the defendant to undergo

 

an examination relating to his or her claim of insanity by

 

personnel of the center for forensic psychiatry or by other

 

qualified personnel, as applicable, for a period not to exceed 60

 

days from the date of the order. When the defendant is to be held

 

in jail pending trial, the center or the other qualified personnel

 

may perform the examination in the jail, or may notify the sheriff

 

to transport the defendant to the center or facility used by the

 

qualified personnel for the examination, and the sheriff shall

 

return the defendant to the jail upon completion of the

 

examination. When the defendant is at liberty pending trial, on

 

bail or otherwise, the defendant shall make himself or herself

 

available for the examination at the place and time established by

 

the center or the other qualified personnel. If the defendant,

 

after being notified of the place and time of the examination,

 

fails to make himself or herself available for the examination, the

 

court may, without a hearing, order his or her commitment to the

 

center.

 

     (3) The defendant may, at his or her own expense, secure an

 

independent psychiatric evaluation by a clinician of his or her

 

choice on the issue of his or her insanity at the time the alleged

 

offense was committed. If the defendant is indigent, the court may,

 

upon showing of good cause, order that the county pay for an

 

independent psychiatric evaluation. The defendant shall notify the

 

prosecuting attorney at least not less than 5 days before the day

 

scheduled for the independent evaluation that he or she intends to

secure such an evaluation. The prosecuting attorney may similarly

 

obtain independent psychiatric evaluation. A clinician secured by

 

an indigent defendant is entitled to receive a reasonable fee as

 

approved by the court.

 

     (4) The defendant shall fully cooperate in his or her

 

examination by personnel of the center for forensic psychiatry or

 

by other qualified personnel, and by any other independent

 

examiners for the defense and or prosecution, as applicable. If he

 

or she fails to cooperate, and that failure is established to the

 

satisfaction of the court at a hearing prior to trial, the

 

defendant shall be barred from presenting testimony relating to his

 

or her insanity at the trial of the case.

 

     (5) Statements made by the defendant to personnel of the

 

center for forensic psychiatry, to other qualified personnel, or to

 

any independent examiner during an examination shall are not be

 

admissible or and do not have probative value in court at the trial

 

of the case on any issues other than his or her mental illness or

 

insanity at the time of the alleged offense.

 

     (6) Upon conclusion of the examination, the center for

 

forensic psychiatry or the other qualified personnel, and any

 

independent examiner, shall prepare a written report and shall

 

submit the report to the prosecuting attorney and defense counsel.

 

The report shall must contain:

 

     (a) The clinical findings of the center, the qualified

 

personnel, or any independent examiner.

 

     (b) The facts, in reasonable detail, upon which the findings

 

were based.

     (c) The opinion of the center or qualified personnel, and the

 

independent examiner on the issue of the defendant's insanity at

 

the time the alleged offense was committed and whether the

 

defendant was mentally ill or intellectually disabled at the time

 

the alleged offense was committed.

 

     (7) Within 10 days after the receipt of the report from the

 

center for forensic psychiatry or from the qualified personnel, or

 

within 10 days after the receipt of the report of an independent

 

examiner secured by the prosecution, whichever occurs later, but

 

not later than 5 days before the trial of the case, or at another

 

time the court directs, the prosecuting attorney shall file and

 

serve upon the defendant a notice of rebuttal of the defense of

 

insanity which shall contain the names of the witnesses whom the

 

prosecuting attorney proposes to call in rebuttal.

 

     (8) The report of the center for forensic psychiatry, the

 

qualified personnel, or any independent examiner may be admissible

 

admitted in evidence upon the stipulation of the prosecution and

 

defense.

 

     (9) As used in this section, "qualified personnel" means

 

personnel meeting standards determined by the department of

 

community health and human services under rules promulgated

 

pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306,

 

MCL 24.201 to 24.328.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.