ABSTRACT
The Dusky case provided the opportunity for the Supreme Court to define the test for competence to stand trial in a criminal case. The defendant, Milton Dusky, had been convicted in U.S. District Court in Missouri of kidnapping and interstate transport of a minor. Dusky asserted on appeal that the trial court erred in three ways: first, in finding him competent to stand trial; second, in submitting the question of insanity to the jury for decision; and third, in instructing the jury according to the M’Naghten test for insanity. The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court on all three issues.
