§ 656. Proceeding when person under sentence of death may be\nincompetent. 1. The state may not execute an inmate who is incompetent.\nAn inmate is "incompetent" when, as a result of mental disease or\ndefect, he lacks the mental capacity to understand the nature and effect\nof the death penalty and why it is to be carried out.\n 2. Upon the filing of a petition in the supreme court in either the\ncounty in which an inmate sentenced to death is confined or in the\ncounty in which the inmate was prosecuted alleging that the inmate is\nincompetent, the court shall issue an order staying the execution if and\nto the extent a stay is necessary to permit determination of the\npetition. Upon application of either the inmate's counsel or the\ndistrict attorney the petition may be transferred to the court in which\nthe inmate was convicted unless such transfer would be unduly burdensome\nor impracticable. Promptly upon filing the petition, the court shall\nappoint a commission of three psychiatric examiners, hereinafter\nreferred to as "the psychiatric commissioners," to inquire into the\ninmate's competence and report to the court as to the inmate's\ncompetence. The psychiatric commissioners shall be impartial and must be\nqualified psychiatrists or certified psychologists. Before commencing an\ninquiry, the psychiatric commissioners must take the oath prescribed in\nrule forty-three hundred fifteen of the civil practice law and rules to\nbe taken by referees. The petition may be filed by the inmate, the\ninmate's counsel, an employee of the department, the inmate's legal\nguardian, a member of such inmate's immediate family or, in the event\nthat the inmate does not have regular contact with a member of his or\nher immediate family, a bona fide friend who has maintained regular\ncontact with the inmate. The petition must be accompanied by an\naffidavit of at least one qualified psychiatrist or certified\npsychologist who, based at least in part on personal examination,\nattests that in the psychiatrist's or psychologist's professional\nopinion the inmate is incompetent and lists the pertinent facts\ntherefor. For purposes of this section the terms "qualified\npsychiatrist" and "certified psychologist" have the meaning set forth in\nsection 730.10 of the criminal procedure law.\n 3. The petition shall be served upon either the district attorney who\nprosecuted the inmate or upon the district attorney for the county in\nwhich the inmate is confined. If the petition is served upon the\ndistrict attorney for the county in which the inmate is confined, the\ncourt shall promptly notify the district attorney who prosecuted the\ninmate. Immediately upon appointing the psychiatric commissioners, the\ncourt shall direct that an examination of the convicted person promptly\ntake place with all three of the psychiatric commissioners present at\nthe same time. The court shall also direct, upon application of the\ninmate or the district attorney, that the inmate be examined by a\nqualified psychiatrist or certified psychologist designated by the\ninmate or the district attorney. Counsel for the inmate and the district\nattorney shall have the right to be present at each such examination.\nUpon the filing of a petition pursuant to subdivision two of this\nsection, if the inmate does not have counsel and is financially unable\nto obtain counsel the court shall appoint competent counsel experienced\nin the trial of criminal matters to represent the inmate.\n 4. The psychiatric commissioners must receive and consider evidence\noffered by the inmate's counsel and the district attorney, including\nwritten submissions, testimony and expert psychiatric evidence. The\nproceeding before the psychiatric commissioners shall be conducted on\nthe record but need not be conducted in accordance with the rules\ngoverning the admission of evidence at trial, but counsel for the people\nand the inmate shall have the right to cross-examine witnesses.\n 5. When
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