PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Andrew D. Reisner AU - Jennifer Piel AU - Miller Makey, Jr TI - Competency to Stand Trial and Defendants Who Lack Insight Into Their Mental Illness DP - 2013 Mar 01 TA - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online PG - 85--91 VI - 41 IP - 1 4099 - http://jaapl.org/content/41/1/85.short 4100 - http://jaapl.org/content/41/1/85.full SO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2013 Mar 01; 41 AB - Forensic evaluators often assess patients who lack insight into their mental illnesses. This lack of insight can have a significant impact on the defendant's ability to make legal strategy decisions that rely on their acceptance of their mental illness. In this article, the relationship between refusing an insanity plea and competency to stand trial will be explored in the context of defendants who lack insight into their mental illness. The authors argue that an adequate competency assessment should take into account the defendant's ability to consider his available pleas rationally. Such evaluations may have the effect of negating the necessity of a Frendak inquiry in those jurisdictions that can impose the insanity defense on defendants.