Colorado § 16-8-114 - Evidence concerning competency - inadmissibility.

§ 16-8-114. Evidence concerning competency - inadmissibility.

(1) and (2) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2008, p. 1857, § 11, effective July 1, 2008.)

(3) (a) Evidence of any determination as to the defendant's competency or incompetency is not admissible on the issues raised by the pleas of not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity or the affirmative defense of impaired mental condition. This subsection (3)(a) applies to offenses committed before July 1, 1995.

(b) Evidence of any determination as to the defendant's competency or incompetency is not admissible on the issues raised by the pleas of not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity. This subsection (3)(b) applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 1995.

Source: L. 72: R&RE, p. 230, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 39-8-114. L. 79: (1) amended, p. 670, § 19, effective July 1. L. 83: (3) amended, p. 675, § 7, effective July 1. L. 95: (3) amended, p. 77, § 11, effective July 1. L. 2008: Entire section amended, p. 1857, § 11, effective July 1. L. 2025: (3) amended, (HB 25-1058), ch. 15, p. 50, § 16, effective August 6.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 389, Session Laws of Colorado 2008.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 16-8-114 is similar to repealed § 39-8-6, C.R.S. 1963, and § 39-8-6, CRS 53, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.

Recovery removes the statutory impediment, and the regular course of the law takes up at the point where the incompetency arose. Leick v. People, 136 Colo. 535, 322 P.2d 674 (1958).

If a defendant who is incompetent to stand trial later regains his sanity, he must face trial on the merits. Parks v. Denver District Court, 180 Colo. 202, 503 P.2d 1029 (1972).

Return to sanity requires new preliminary hearing. When the preliminary hearing is held first and the competency hearing second, if the outcome of the competency hearing is that the defendant is presently insane, then upon his return to competency another preliminary hearing must be held. Schwader v. District Court, 172 Colo. 474, 474 P.2d 607 (1970).

Section limits admissibility of results of examination in trial on guilt. The statutory limitation on the use at the trial of the issue of guilt or innocence of any substantive evidence or information acquired directly or indirectly for the first time as the result of examination of accused applies to an examination in connection with a plea of insanity at the time or an allegation of incompetency after the alleged commission of the crime. Nowels v. People, 166 Colo. 140, 442 P.2d 410 (1968).

Applied in People v. Chavez, 629 P.2d 1040 (Colo. 1981).