McGouirk v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseThe constitutional issue involved in this case was identical to the one that was presented in, and resolved by, the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Carr v. State, – Ga. – (Case No S18A0100, decided June 18, 2018). Ryan McGouirk was arrested in January 2016 and charged with the violent offenses of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, cruelty to children (for causing pain to a child by having the child touch him sexually), and arson in the first degree. McGouirk was subsequently released on bond. Following his indictment, McGouirk filed special pleas of mental incompetence to stand trial. In Carr, the Georgia Court sustained a due process challenge to OCGA 17-7-130 (c), which is a statute that had been applied to require the defendant who had been accused of violent offenses in that case and who had been found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial to be transferred to the physical custody of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (the department) for further evaluation. The part of the trial court’s judgment concluding that OCGA 17-7- 130 (c) was constitutional was reversed[,] the part of the judgment ordering McGouirk to be delivered to the custody of the department for evaluation was vacated, and the trial court’s unchallenged finding that McGouirk was incompetent to stand trial was affirmed. On remand, the trial court was ordered to proceed in accordance with the Supreme Court’s opinion in Carr (and this case], including exercising discretion in deciding whether McGouirk should be committed to the department’s custody for evaluation or should be evaluated on an outpatient basis.
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