Baqleh

If during the pendency of a criminal action and prior to judgment counsel informs the court he or she believes the defendant is or may be mentally incompetent, the court shall suspend the criminal proceedings and order that the question of the defendant’s mental competence be determined at a trial of that question by court or jury. (Pen. Code, § 1368.) Thereafter, “[t]he court shall appoint a psychiatrist or licensed psychologist, and any other expert the court may deem appropriate, to examine the defendant.” (§ 1369, subd. (a).)

This case presents the questions whether a court that has ordered a hearing pursuant to section 1369 may not only appoint its own expert but also order the defendant to submit to examination by an expert retained by the prosecution and, if so, the nature of the examination that may be ordered and the consequences of a defendant’s refusal to submit.

Facts and Proceedings Below

Petitioner is the defendant in a special circumstance murder case pending in respondent court for which the People are seeking the penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On September 25, 2001, when petitioner was brought before respondent court for…