46-14-311. Consideration of mental disease or disorder or developmental disability in sentencing. (1) Whenever a defendant is convicted on a verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and claims at the time of the omnibus hearing held pursuant to 46-13-110 or, if no omnibus hearing is held, at the time of any change of plea by the defendant that at the time of the commission of the offense of which convicted the defendant was suffering from a mental disease or disorder or developmental disability that rendered the defendant unable to appreciate the criminality of the defendant's behavior or to conform the defendant's behavior to the requirements of law, the sentencing court shall consider any relevant evidence presented at the trial and may also consider the results of the presentence investigation requested pursuant to subsection (2).

(2) Under the circumstances referred to in subsection (1), the sentencing court may order a presentence investigation and a report on the investigation pursuant to 46-18-111. If requested, the investigation must include a mental evaluation by a person appointed by the director of the department of public health and human services or the director's designee. The evaluation must include an opinion as to whether the defendant suffered from a mental disease or disorder or developmental disability with the effect as described in subsection (1). If the opinion concludes that the defendant did suffer from a mental disease or disorder or developmental disability with the effect as described in subsection (1), the evaluation must also include a recommendation as to the care, custody, and treatment needs of the defendant.

History: En. Sec. 10, Ch. 713, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 165, Ch. 800, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 395, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 452, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 268, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 21, Ch. 161, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 456, L. 2019.