Section 2949.29 | Insanity inquiry procedure.
(A) The prosecuting attorney, the convict, and the convict's counsel shall attend an inquiry commenced as provided in section 2949.28 of the Revised Code. The prosecuting attorney and the convict or the convict's counsel may produce, examine, and cross-examine witnesses, and all findings shall be in writing signed by the judge. If it is found that the convict is not insane, the sentence shall be executed at the time previously appointed, unless that time has passed pending completion of the inquiry, in which case the judge conducting the inquiry, if authorized by the supreme court, shall appoint a time for execution of the sentence to be effective fifteen days from the date of the entry of the judge's findings in the inquiry.
(B) If it is found that the convict is insane and if authorized by the supreme court, the judge shall continue any stay of execution of the sentence previously issued, order the convict to be confined in the area at which other convicts sentenced to death are confined or in a maximum security medical or psychiatric facility operated by the department of rehabilitation and correction, and order treatment of the convict. Thereafter, the court at any time may conduct and, on motion of the prosecuting attorney, shall conduct a hearing pursuant to division (A) of this section to continue the inquiry into the convict's insanity and, as provided in section 2949.28 of the Revised Code, may appoint one or more psychiatrists or psychologists to make a further examination of the convict and to submit a report to the court. If the court finds at the hearing that the convict is not insane and if the time previously appointed for execution of the sentence has not passed, the sentence shall be executed at the previously appointed time. If the court finds at the hearing that the convict is not insane and if the time previously appointed for execution of the sentence has passed, the judge who conducts the hearing, if authorized by the supreme court, shall appoint a new time for execution of the sentence to be effective fifteen days from the date of the entry of the judge's findings in the hearing.
(C) In all proceedings under this section, the convict is presumed not to be insane, and the court shall find that the convict is not insane unless the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the convict is insane.
(D) Proceedings for inquiry into the insanity of any convict sentenced to death shall be exclusively pursuant to this section, section 2949.28 of the Revised Code, and the Rules of Evidence. Neither Chapter 5122. or 5123. of the Revised Code nor any other provision of the Revised Code nor any other rule concerning mentally ill persons, mentally retarded persons, or insane persons applies to any proceeding for inquiry into the insanity of any convict sentenced to death.
Available Versions of this Section
- July 29, 1998 – Senate Bill 107 - 122nd General Assembly [ View July 29, 1998 Version ]
- October 12, 2016 – House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly [ View October 12, 2016 Version ]
- April 6, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 281 - 134th General Assembly [ View April 6, 2023 Version ]