Yeah, I read that before I posted. Here's link to all of the documents of record in this case:
Docket for United States v. CHANSLEY, 1:21-cr-00003 — Brought to you by Free Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to creating high quality open legal information.
www.courtlistener.com
He was indicted for violation of 6 federal crimes (notice "U.S.C." in the indictment which means United States Code). That was why I referred to due process under the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution which applies to the federal government rather than the fourteenth amendment, which applies to the states.
The issue right now is if Chansley is fit to stand trial
at this time. Even if he's put into a mental institution, he will need show that he's recovered in order to get out. If he succeeds, the government prosecutors will say "Congratulations, you are now fit to be tried, welcome back to the real world!" and he'll be put on trial. The fact that he may have been unfit for trial at one point in time but has since recovered is unlikely to be of much help in an insanity defense. Different standards for mental competency, different points in time:
>>>What's the difference between competency to stand trial and the insanity defense?
Competency to stand trial hinges on a defendant's current mental state at the time of trial. It is generally a low-level standard that requires merely that a defendant understands the proceedings against him -- that he is being tried for a crime, and the relative roles of prosecutor, defense attorney, and judge -- and be able to assist his attorney in his defense. The low standard reflects the attempt to provide as many people as possible a day in court, while excluding those individuals who are so sick as to be completely unable to comprehend the proceedings or to assist their attorneys.
There is a common misperception that if an individual is found incompetent, it is the same as being found not guilty. In reality, if the defendant is deemed incompetent, there is no trial, and no conviction or acquittal.
The insanity defense has nothing to do with a defendant's current mental status; to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, a judge or jury must evaluate the defendant's state of mind at the time of the offense.
• What happens when a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial?
A finding of incompetence merely signals a hiatus in the criminal proceedings. In the majority of cases, a mentally ill defendant deemed incompetent receives treatment until he is deemed "restored to competence," and returns to court.<<<
The statute governing the insanity defense is very limited, and it's almost never even invoked, let alone successful
>>>
18 U.S. Code § 17. Insanity defense
(a)Affirmative Defense.—
It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under any Federal statute that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.
(b)Burden of Proof.—
The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence.<<<
www.law.cornell.edu
It would be extremely risky for Chansley's lawyer to invoke this defense. There's a good chance he'd end up in a mental facility for a lot longer than he would spend in jail if he negotiates a plea deal.
I honestly don't understand your horse doo doo comment earlier. No one has even argued Chansley is innocent by reason of insanity. The odds of Chansley somehow walking away free just because he's (according to his lawyer) "f*cking retarded" are basically zero.
>>>“A lot of these defendants — and I’m going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they’re all fucking short-bus people,” Watkins told TPM. “These are people with brain damage, they’re f*cking retarded, they’re on the goddamn spectrum.”
“But they’re our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our coworkers — they’re part of our country. These aren’t bad people, they don’t have prior criminal history. F*ck, they were subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since fucking Hitler.”<<<
A few weeks after his arrest for allegedly storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, the man known as the “QAnon Shaman,” Jacob Chansley, floated an idea that dozens of others have tried — that Trump himself…
talkingpointsmemo.com
