Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

An appellant was found mentally competent by one psychologist around 7 days before the vop hearing. Prior to the hearing,in jail, appellant was receiving psychotropric medication, unknown to the psychologist and the court. The appellant would have a mental breakdown -psychosis- days later...Appellant has spent months in and out of mental health ,several months, several times since the vop hearing. The public defender took the appellant to vop hearing and did nothing further with the report...did not tell the court about it to determine competency..was this legal ? How can the events after the VOP hearing be introduced the the appeal court ?

How can you convince the Judges on appeal that appellant was mentally and legally incompetent to attend the vop hearing ? that the psychologist report was flawed,because he stated appellant was not on medication ? Was competency handled correctly ? Shouldnt the determination be made by the court or psychiatrist? Do you have any previous cases to support this argument that you can cite ? ..please advise


Asked on 9/14/10, 5:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

Comptency issues are very complex. You're not going to get an answer to your question without hiring an attorney. This is not something that can be answered on this forum, so you should call an attorney immediately.

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Answered on 9/25/10, 3:16 pm


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