§ 19.2-176. Determination of insanity after conviction but before sentence; hearing
A. If, after conviction and before sentence of any person, the judge presiding at the trial finds reasonable ground to question such person's mental state, he may order an evaluation of such person's mental state by an employee or designee of the local community services board or behavioral health authority who is skilled in the assessment and treatment of mental illness and who has completed a certification program approved by the Department as provided in § 37.2-809. If the judge, based on the evaluation, and after hearing representations of the defendant's counsel, finds clear and convincing evidence that the defendant (i) is mentally ill, and (ii) requires treatment in a mental hospital rather than the jail, he may order the defendant hospitalized in a facility designated by the Commissioner as appropriate for treatment of persons convicted of crime. The time such person is confined to such hospital shall be deducted from any term for which he may be sentenced to any penal institution, reformatory or elsewhere.
B. If it appears from all evidence readily available that the defendant is mentally ill and that there exists a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the defendant will, in the near future, cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any, a temporary order of detention may be issued in accordance with subdivision A 2 of § 19.2-169.6 and a hearing shall be conducted in accordance with subsections A and C within 48 hours of execution of the temporary order of detention, or if the 48-hour period herein specified terminates on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, such person may be detained for the same period allowed for detention pursuant to an order for temporary detention issued pursuant to §§ 37.2-809 to 37.2-813.
C. A defendant may not be hospitalized longer than thirty days under this section unless the court which has criminal jurisdiction over him, or a court designated by such court, holds a hearing, at which the defendant shall be represented by an attorney, and finds clear and convincing evidence that the defendant continues to be (i) mentally ill and that there continues to exist a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the defendant will, in the near future, cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any, and (ii) in need of psychiatric treatment in a hospital. Hospitalization may be extended in this manner for periods of 180 days, but in no event may such hospitalization be continued beyond the date upon which his sentence would have expired had he received the maximum sentence for the crime charged.
(Code 1950, § 19.1-234; 1960, c. 366; 1964, c. 231; 1966, c. 715; 1972, c. 295; 1975, c. 495; 1982, c. 653; 1986, c. 629; 1990, c. 76; 2008, cc. 779, 850, 870.)
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