What is the test for determining whether a defendant is mentally competent to stand trial?

To afford a defendant due process, a district court must order a competency hearing "on its own motion, if there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense." 18 U.S.C. 4241(a). "There are . . . no fixed or immutable signs which invariably indicate the need for further inquiry to determine fitness to proceed . . . ." Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 180 (1975); accord

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