ECST™-R

Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial™-Revised

Purpose: Evaluates an individual’s competency to stand trial

Format: Paper and pencil, E-Manual

Age range: 18 years to 79 years

Time: 25-45 minutes; 5 minutes to score

DETAILS:

The ECST-R is a semistructured interview designed to assess dimensions of competency to stand trial as propounded in Dusky v. United States (1960) and consistently affirmed in subsequent Supreme Court decisions.

Features and Benefits

  • Contains 18 items and three individual scales that assess separate dimensions of competency to stand trial: Factual Understanding of the Courtroom Proceedings, Rational Understanding of the Courtroom Proceedings, and Consult with Counsel.

  • Includes 28 items and five scales for atypical presentation: Realistic, Psychotic, Nonpsychotic, Impairment, and Both (Psychotic and Nonpsychotic combined).

  • Provides five important advantages over existing competency measures: Congruence with the Dusky standard, established construct validity, admissibility under the Daubert standard, systematic screening for feigned incompetency, and focus on case-specific information.

  • Provides a systematic screening for feigned incompetency to stand trial, with questions probing purported impairment and symptomatology specifically germane to competency issues.

  • Validated on defendants with a range of cognitive abilities. Most defendants with functional intelligence in the borderline and upper level of mild mental retardation (i.e., IQs = 60-69) can be tested with the ECST-R.

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