                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EVALUATION OF SANITY AT THE TIME OF THE OFFENSE; DISCLOSURE OF EVALUATION
RESULTS (§ 19.2-169.5)

A. Raising issue of sanity at the time of offense; appointment of evaluators.
&#8212; If, at any time before trial, the court finds, upon hearing evidence or
representations of counsel for the defendant, that there is probable cause to
believe that the defendant&#8217;s sanity will be a significant factor in his
defense and that the defendant is financially unable to pay for expert
assistance, the court shall appoint one or more qualified mental health experts
to evaluate the defendant&#8217;s sanity at the time of the offense and, where
appropriate, to assist in the development of an insanity defense. Such mental
health expert shall be a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist who (i) has
performed forensic examinations, (ii) has successfully completed forensic
evaluation training recognized by the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services, (iii) has demonstrated to the Commissioner competence to
perform forensic evaluations, and (iv) is included on a list of approved
evaluators maintained by the Commissioner. The defendant shall not be entitled
to a mental health expert of his own choosing or to funds to employ such expert.

B. Location of evaluation. &#8212; The evaluation shall be performed on an
outpatient basis, at a mental health facility or in jail unless an outpatient
evaluation has been conducted and the outpatient evaluator opines that a
hospital-based evaluation is needed to reliably reach an opinion or unless the
defendant is in the custody of the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-169.2, 19.2-169.6, 19.2-182.2,
19.2-182.3, 19.2-182.8, 19.2-182.9, or Article 5 (&#xA7; 37.2-814 et seq.) of
Chapter 8 of Title 37.2.

C. Provision of information to evaluator. &#8212; The court shall require the
party making the motion for the evaluation, and such other parties as the court
deems appropriate, to provide to the evaluators appointed under subsection A any
information relevant to the evaluation, including, but not limited to (i) copy
of the warrant or indictment; (ii) the names and addresses of the attorney for
the Commonwealth, the attorney for the defendant and the judge who appointed the
expert; (iii) information pertaining to the alleged crime, including statements
by the defendant made to the police and transcripts of preliminary hearings, if
any; (iv) a summary of the reasons for the evaluation request; (v) any available
psychiatric, psychological, medical or social records that are deemed relevant;
and (vi) a copy of the defendant&#8217;s criminal record, to the extent
reasonably available.

D. The evaluators shall prepare a full report concerning the defendant&#8217;s
sanity at the time of the offense, including whether he may have had a
significant mental disease or defect which rendered him insane at the time of
the offense. The report shall be prepared within the time period designated by
the court, said period to include the time necessary to obtain and evaluate the
information specified in subsection C.

E. Disclosure of evaluation results. &#8212; The report described in subsection
D shall be sent solely to the attorney for the defendant and shall be deemed to
be protected by the lawyer-client privilege. However, the Commonwealth shall be
given the report in all felony cases, the results of any other evaluation of the
defendant&#8217;s sanity at the time of the offense, and copies of psychiatric,
psychological, medical, or other records obtained during the course of any such
evaluation, after the attorney for the defendant gives notice of an intent to
present psychiatric or psychological evidence pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-168. In
addition, in all cases, the evaluator shall send a redacted copy of the report
removing references to the defendant&#8217;s name, date of birth, case number,
and court of jurisdiction to the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services for the purpose of peer review to establish and maintain
the list of approved evaluators described in subsection A.

F. In any case where the defendant obtains his own expert to evaluate the
defendant&#8217;s sanity at the time of the offense, the provisions of
subsections D and E, relating to the disclosure of the evaluation results, shall
apply.

HISTORY: 1982, c. 653; 1986, c. 535; 1987, c. 439; 1996, cc. 937, 980; 2005, c.
428; 2009, cc. 813, 840; 2016, c. 445; 2018, c. 367.