McGouirk v. the State.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia held that Georgia’s automatic inpatient commitment provision for mentally incompetent defendants charged with violent offenses violates due process because it lacks an individualized determination of whether confinement advances the state’s interest. Accordingly, the trial court’s finding that the statute was constitutional was reversed, the order committing the defendant to the department’s custody was vacated, the incompetence finding was affirmed, and the case was remanded for the lower court to exercise discretion on inpatient versus outpatient evaluation.