California Penal Code

§ 3701

PEN § 3701 Effective Jan 1, 2023Title 3 · Part 3 · Ch. 2

Statute text

(a)If, after an execution date has been set, there is good reason to believe that an incarcerated person under judgment of death has become incompetent to be executed, the warden shall call that fact to the attention of the district attorney of the county in which the incarcerated person was sentenced, the Attorney General, and the incarcerated person’s counsel. If counsel for the incarcerated person has reason to believe that the incarcerated person is incompetent to be executed, counsel for the incarcerated person has a duty to file within 48 hours in the superior court of the county from which the incarcerated person’s judgment and sentence of death arises, a petition that identifies the conviction and judgment, alleges that the incarcerated person is believed to be incompetent to be executed, and asks that the question of the incarcerated person’s competence to be executed be inquired into. If counsel for the incarcerated person does not file that petition, or the incarcerated person does not have counsel, and the warden has notified the district attorney and the Attorney General that there is reason to believe that the incarcerated person is incompetent to be executed, the Attorney General shall file the petition. During the course of these proceedings, the court shall also consider whether the petitioner is permanently incompetent to be executed within the meaning of subdivision (e). The incarcerated person’s execution may not proceed until the court’s inquiry into the incarcerated person’s competence to be executed is complete.

(b)At any time prior to the setting of an execution date, an incarcerated person whose judgment and sentence of death has been affirmed on direct appeal may file a petition alleging the incarcerated person’s permanent incompetence to be executed. The petition must be verified and supported by either the opinion of a qualified expert that the incarcerated person is permanently incompetent within the meaning of subdivision (e) or medical evidence that the incarcerated person has one or more medical or mental health conditions that would support a finding that the incarcerated person is permanently incompetent within the meaning of subdivision (e).

(c)An incarcerated person who has submitted a petition pursuant to subdivision (b) that did not result in a determination that the incarcerated person is permanently incompetent to be executed may submit a renewed petition. A renewed petition must identify with specificity a change in the incarcerated person’s diagnosis or prognosis or change in the law that arose after the determination of the prior request that supports the renewed petition.

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Legislative history

Repealed and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 795, Sec. 5. (AB 2657) Effective January 1, 2023.