California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ramos, B242911 (Cal. App. 2014):
As noted, "[b]oth federal due process and state law require a trial judge to suspend trial proceedings and conduct a competency hearing whenever the court is presented with substantial evidence of incompetence, that is, evidence that raises a reasonable or bona fide doubt concerning the defendant's competence to stand trial." (Rogers, supra, 39 Cal.4th at p. 847.) Thus, the federal and state standards of review are essentially the same. (People v. Lightsey (2012) 54 Cal.4th 668, 690-691.) We conclude that the trial court did not err in finding a lack of substantial evidence of changed circumstances that would justify declaring a doubt about defendant's mental competence and suspending criminal proceedings.
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