State v. Barnes

Citations

• 2021 Ohio 3469

Syllabus

R.C. 2945.37(B) competence to stand trial hearing R.C. 2945.371 evaluation of defendant's mental condition at relevant time sanity at the time of the act. Appellant's convictions are reversed and remanded. Appellant requested a psychiatric examination prior to trial relating to competence to stand trial, sanity at the time of the act, and qualification for the mental health docket. The record does not support that the report was filed, a hearing conducted, or that stipulations to competence were entered in the record. The statute is clear that the court \shall\ hold a hearing when the defendant's competence to stand trial is raised before trial begins. R.C. 2945.37(B). The error was not harmless. The defendant did not testify in his own defense, was not subject to cross-examination, and the record reveals sufficient indicia of incompetence to require a hearing.