CHAPTER V.

INQUIRY INTO THE INSANITY OF THE DEFENDANT BEFORE OR DURING

THE TRIAL, OR AFTER CONVICTION.

SECTION 658. Appointment of commission; their proceedings.

659. If found insane, trial or judgment suspended, and defendant to be committed to state lunatic asylum, if his discharge be dangerous to the public peace or safety.

660. If defendant committed, bail exonerated or deposit of money

refunded.

661. Detention of defendant in asylum, and proceedings on his becoming sane.

662. Expenses incident to sending defendant to asylum, how paid.

§ 658. Appointment of commission; their proceedings. When a defendant pleads insanity, as prescribed in section three hundred and thirty-six, the court in which the indictment is pending, instead of proceeding with the trial of the indictment, may appoint a commission of not more than three disinterested persons to examine him and report to the court as to his sanity at the time of the commission of the crime.

If a defendant in confinement, under indictment, appears to be, at any time before or after conviction, insane, the court in which the indictment is pending, unless the defendant is under sentence of death, may appoint a like commission to examine him and report to the court as to his sanity at the time of the examination.

The commission must summarily proceed to make their exam ination. Before commencing they must take the oath prescribed in the Code of Civil Procedure to be taken by referees. They must be attended by the district attorney of the county, and may call and examine witnesses and compel their attendance. The counsel of the defendant may take part in the proceedings. When the commissioners have concluded their examination they must forthwith report the facts to the court with their opinion thereon.

Commissioner's oath. Code Civ. Proc., § 1016.

See Penal Code, § 20; 2 Crim. Law Mag. 605, 612; People v. Haight, 13 Abb. N. C. 198; 3 N. Y. Cr. Rep. 61; People v. Rhinelander, 2 id. 338; People, rel., v. Walsh, 21 Abb. N. C. 299; People v. McElvaine, 125 N. Y. 596.

659. If found insane, trial or judgment suspended, and defendant to be committed to state lunatic asylum, if his discharge be dangerous to the public peace or safety. If the commission find the defendant insane, the trial of judgment must be suspended until he becomes sane; and the court, if it deem his discharge dangerous to the public peace or safety, must order that he be, in the meantime, committed by the sheriff to a state lunatic asylum; and that upon his becoming sane, he be re-delivered by the superintendent of the asylum to the sheriff.

660. If defendant committed, bail exonerated or deposit of money refunded. The commitment of the defendant, as mentioned in the last section, exonerates his bail, or entitles a person authorized to receive the property of the defendant, to a return of any money he may have deposited instead of bail.

§ 661. Detention of defendant in asylum, and proceedings on his becoming sane. If the defendant be received. into the asylum, he must be detained there until he becomes sane. When he becomes sane, the superintendent must give a written notice of that fact to a judge of the supreme court of the district in which the asylum is situated. The judge must require the sheriff without delay to bring the defendant from the asylum and place him in the proper custody until he be brought to trial, judg ment, or execution as the case may be, or be legally discharged.

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662. Expenses incident to sending defendant to asylum, how paid. The expenses of sending the defendant to the asylum, of keeping him there, and of bringing him back, are, in the first instance, chargeable to the county from which he was sent; but the county may recover them from the estate of the defendant, if he have any, or from a relative, town, city, or county, bound to provide for and maintain him elsewhere.

CHAPTER VI.

COMPROMISING CERTAIN CRIMES, BY LEAVE OF THE COURT.

SECTION 663. Certain crimes, for which the party injured has a civil action, may be compromised.

664. Compromise to be by permission of the court; order thereon.

665. Order, a bar to another prosecution.

666. No public offense to be compromised, except as provided in this

chapter.

§ 663. Certain crimes for which the party injured has a civil action, may be compromised. When a defendant is brought before a magistrate or is held to answer, on a charge of a misdemeanor, for which the person injured by the act constituting the crime has a remedy by a civil action, the crime may be compromised, as provided in the next section, except when it was committed,

1. By or upon an officer of justice, while in the execution of the duties of his office;

2. Riotously; or

3. With an intent to commit a felony.

§ 664. Compromise to be by permission of the court; order thereon.- If a party injured appear before the magistrate, or before the court to which the deposition and statements are required, by section two hundred and twenty-one, to be returned at any time before trial or commitment by the magistrate, or trial on indictment for the crime, and acknowledge in writing that he has received satisfaction for the injury, the magistrate or court may, in his or its discretion, on payment of the costs and expenses incurred, if such magistrate or court shall see fit so to direct, order all proceedings to be stayed upon the prosecution and the defendant be discharged therefrom. But in that case, the reason for the order must be set forth therein and entered upon the minutes.

§ 665. Order a bar to another prosecution. — The order authorized by the last section is a bar to another prosecution for the same offense.

§666. No public offense to be compromised, except as provided in this chapter. —No crime can be compromised, nor can any proceeding for the prosecution or punishment thereof upon a compromise be stayed, except as provided in sections six hundred and sixty-three and six hundred and sixty-four.

See Penal Code, § 125, notes.

CHAPTER VII.

DISMISSAL OF THE ACTION, BEFORE OR AFTER INDICTMENT, FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION OR OTHERWISE.

SECTION 667. Dismissal, when a person held to answer is not indicted at the next term thereafter.

668. When a person indicted is not brought to trial at the next term

thereafter.

669. Court may order action to be continued, and in the meantime discharge defendant from custody, on his own undertaking, or on bail.

670. If action dismissed, defendant to be discharged from custody, or his bail exonerated, or deposit of money refunded.

671. Court may order indictment to be dismissed.

672. Nolle prosequi abolished; no indictment to be dismissed or abandoned, except according to this chapter.

673. Dismissal, a bar, in misdemeanor, but not in felony.

§ 667. Dismissal, when a person held to answer is not indicted at the next term thereafter. When a person has been held to answer for a crime, if an indictment be not found against him, at the next term of the court at which he is held to answer, the court may, on application of the defendant, order the prosecution to be dismissed, unless good cause to the contrary be shown.

668. When a person indicted is not brought to trial at the next term thereafter. If a defendant, indicted for a crime whose trial has not been postponed upon his application, be not brought to trial at the next term of the court in which the indictment is triable, after it is found the court may, on application of the defendant, order the indictment to be dismissed, unless good cause to the contrary be shown.

See People v. Beckwith, 2 N. Y. Cr. Rep. 31. See 11 Eng. Rep. 383.

§ 669. Court may order action to be continued, and in the meantime discharge defendant from custody, on his own undertaking, or on bail. If the defendant be not indicted or tried, as provided in the last two sections, and sufficient reason therefor be shown, the court may order the action to be continued from term to term, and in the meantime may discharge the defendant from custody, on his own undertaking, or on the undertaking of bail for his appearance to answer the charge at the time to which the action is continued.

See People v. Beckwith, 2 N. Y. Cr. Rep. 31.

§ 670. If action dismissed, defendant to be discharged from custody, or his bail exonerated, or deposit of money refunded. If the court direct the action to be dismissed, the defendant must, if in custody, be discharged therefrom, or if admitted to bail, his bail is exonerated, or money deposited instead of bail must be refunded to him.

See People v. Beckwith, 2 N. Y. Cr. Rep. 31.

§ 671. Court may order indictment to be dismissed.— The court may, either of its own motion, or upon the application of the district attorney, and in furtherance of justice, order an action, after indictment, to be dismissed.

See People v. Beckwith, 2 N. Y. Cr. Rep. 29.

§ 672. Nolle prosequi abolisned; no indictment to be dismissed or abandoned except according to this chapter. The entry of a nolle prosequi is abolished; and neither the attorney-general, nor the district attorney, can discontinue or abandon a prosecution for a crime, except as provided in the last section.

673. Dismissal, a bar in misdemeanor, but not in felony. An order for the dismissal of the action, as provided in this chapter, is a bar to another prosecution for the same offense, if it be a misdemeanor; but it is not a bar, if the offense charged be a felony.

See § 9, ante, and cases cited; Rapalje's Crim. Proc., § 129.