Opinion ID: 579754
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Competency to Enter Plea

Text: 10 Collins has presented no evidence that at the time he entered his plea he lacked the sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding--and ... a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him. United States v. Frank, No. 89-10289, slip op. 1415, 1421 (9th Cir. Feb. 11, 1992) (quoting United States v. Dusky, 362 U.S. 402, 80 S.Ct. 788, 4 L.Ed.2d 824 (1960)). The competency test focuses on the defendant's mental state at the time of trial or other court proceeding, not his mental state when the act was committed. Collins does not allege that he was in a black-out stage on the day he changed his plea to guilty, only when he committed the murder. Collins's claim that his counsel rehearsed him for the psychiatric evaluation is similarly frivolous. Collins has presented no evidence of incompetency on the day he entered his plea.