The Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that the state erred in holding two men in state mental institutions longer than the law allows without starting procedures to commit the men to mental hospitals permanently. The men had been declared incompetent to stand trial, and the state indicted the men for criminal charges and then re-indicted them after the time limit for holding the men in the state institutions had lapsed. The men then appealed their re-indictments.

The men had first asked the circuit courts in Baltimore and Harford counties, where the men were charged, to dismiss the second indictments. Those courts refused to do so.

The appellate court's opinion noted that the state violated the men's due process and equal protection rights by holding them longer than state law allows. The maximum time that the state may hold a defendant who is incompetent to stand trial without moving to commit the defendant varies based on the charge.

The court concluded that the state may only hold people without committing them and re-indict them on the same charges when it has a good faith belief that people will respond to treatment and become competent to stand trial.

The state may appeal the decision to the Maryland Court of Appeals within 30 days of the opinion date. The state attorney general's office is currently reviewing the opinion to decide if it wishes to appeal.

However, experts note that the opinion will have a limited effect, since re-indictment for people found incompetent for trial is rare. Many people respond to psychiatric treatment within the time limits the law allows and become competent to stand trial.

Despite the limited impact of the opinion, the court's decision is a strong reminder to the state that rules such as time limits on holding defendants in mental institutions exist to protect people's rights, and the state cannot ignore those rules.

Source: The Baltimore Sun: "Appeals court: State cannot re-indict defendants unfit for trial," Arthur Hirsch, Feb. 8, 2012.