176.425 - Sanity investigation: Filing of petition; stay of execution. - Nevada Statutes

176.425  Sanity investigation: Filing of petition; stay of execution.

      1.  If, after judgment of death, there is a good reason to believe that the defendant has become insane, the Director of the Department of Corrections to whom the convicted person has been delivered for execution may by a petition in writing, verified by a physician, petition a district judge of the district court of the county in which the state prison is situated, alleging the present insanity of such person, whereupon such judge shall:

      (a) Fix a day for a hearing to determine whether the convicted person is insane;

      (b) Appoint two psychiatrists, two psychologists, or one psychiatrist and one psychologist, to examine the convicted person; and

      (c) Give immediate notice of the hearing to the Attorney General and to the district attorney of the county in which the conviction was had.

      2.  If the judge determines that the hearing on and the determination of the sanity of the convicted person cannot be had before the date of the execution of such person, the judge may stay the execution of the judgment of death pending the determination of the sanity of the convicted person.

      (Added to NRS by 1967, 1440; A 1977, 861; 1991, 1002; 2001 Special Session, 219)