NCJ Number
139044
Journal
Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1992), 385-394
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study, based on data obtained in structured interviews with six attorneys working in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama Public Defenders Office, examines the perceptions of defense attorneys regarding their clients' competence and participation in attorney-client decision-making. The interviews covered a random sample of 122 of 202 non-dismissed felony cases that reached final disposition between November 1989 and June 1990.
Abstract
The defendants in these cases were mostly male (82 percent), and 59 percent were black. The average age was 29. Ninety-five percent of the cases were terminated with a guilty plea. Class A felonies comprised 13 percent of the sample; Class B, 19 percent; and Class C, 68 percent. Attorneys spent a mean of 8 hours meeting, or speaking by telephone, with their clients. They reported significant doubts about their clients' competence to stand trial in 14.8 percent of the cases. Attorneys were questioned regarding their clients' functioning as it related to developing facts necessary to the defense, participating in decision-making, and participating overall in the defense. According to the results, attorneys believed that clients whose competence was in doubt tended to be less involved in decision- making and more passive participants in their cases. Nearly half of these clients were not referred to mental health professionals for assessment. Attorneys were more likely to question the competence of clients charged with the most serious felonies. While they placed a significant weight on their clients' ability to participate in case decision-making, they were willing to minimize the impact of client impairment by encouraging family involvement or seeking advice from other attorneys. 1 table and 12 references