161818P.pdf   05/08/2017  United States  v.  Kevin Dalasta
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  16-1818
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Des Moines   
   [PUBLISHED] [Loken, Author, with Beam and Benton, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law. Once a defendant is found incompetent to 
   stand trial, a district judge has no discretion in whether or nor to 
   commit him, as 18 U.S.C. Sec. 4241(d) imposes a mandatory duty to commit a 
   defendant who is found incompetent to the custody of the Attorney General, 
   even if there is undisputed medical evidence that the defendant cannot be 
   restored to competency; commitment under such circumstances is not, as 
   defendant argues, an absurd result as the commitment gives the Attorney 
   General's medical experts time to evaluate the defendant's continuing 
   dangerousness if he were released after a 4246(a) hearing; such a 
   commitment does not violate defendant's liberty interests under the due 
   process clause; it is up to the Attorney General, not the court, to 
   determine whether a non-custodial alternative better suits the situation.