Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial™– Revised (ECST™-R)

R Rogers, PhD, C E Tillbrook, PhD, and K W Sewell, PhD

The ECST-R is a semistructured interview designed to assess dimensions of competency to stand trial as propounded in Dusky v. United States (1960) and consistently affirmed in subsequent Supreme Court decisions.

Contains 18 items and three individual scales that assess separate dimensions of competency to stand trial: Factual Understanding of the Courtroom Proceedings, Rational Understanding of the Courtroom Proceedings, and Consult with Counsel.

Includes 28 items and five scales for atypical presentation: Realistic, Psychotic, Nonpsychotic, Impairment, and Both (Psychotic and Nonpsychotic combined).

Provides five important advantages over existing competency measures: Congruence with the Dusky standard, established construct validity, admissibility under the Daubert standard, systematic screening for feigned incompetency, and focus on case-specific information.

Provides a systematic screening for feigned incompetency to stand trial, with questions probing purported impairment and symptomatology specifically germane to competency issues.

Validated on defendants with a range of cognitive abilities. Most defendants with functional intelligence in the borderline and upper level of mild mental retardation (i.e., IQs = 60-69) can be tested with the ECST-R.