People v. Superior Court (Ghilotti)

• Decision Date: 25 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. S102527.,S102527.
• Citation: 119 Cal.Rptr.2d 1,44 P.3d 949,27 Cal.4th 888
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of Marin County, Respondent, Patrick Henry GHILOTTI, Real Party in Interest.

119 Cal.Rptr.2d 1

27 Cal.4th 888

44 P.3d 949

The PEOPLE, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of Marin County, Respondent, Patrick Henry GHILOTTI, Real Party in Interest.

No. S102527.

Supreme Court of California.

April 25, 2002.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, and Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

Joseph L. Spaeth, Public Defender, Frank J. Cox, Chief Deputy Public Defender, and Edward J. Farrell, Deputy Public Defender, for Real Party in Interest.

Ron Boyer, Deputy Public Defender (Contra Costa); Jean F. Matulis; and John Philipsborn for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and California Public Defenders Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

BAXTER, J.

The Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA or Act) (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 6600 et seq.)¹ provides a court process by which certain convicted violent sex offenders, whose current mental disorders make them likely to reoffend if free, may be committed, at the end of their prison terms, for successive two-year periods of state hospital confinement and treatment as long as the disorder-related danger persists. Before an SVPA commitment or recommitment proceeding may even be initiated, at least two mental health professionals designated by the Director of the State Department of Mental Health (Director) must evaluate the candidate under a standardized assessment protocol to determine whether, as the result of a diagnosed mental disorder, the person is likely to commit new acts of criminal sexual violence unless confined and treated. (§ 6601.)

Petitioner Patrick Henry Ghilotti served two separate prison terms for multiple violent sex offenses committed in Marin County. He has been in state hospital confinement under the SVPA since his second prison term expired in 1998. Recently, psychologists designated by the Director conducted formal evaluations of Ghilotti's current condition to determine whether he should be recommitted for an additional SVPA term, or should instead be released without conditions. The People concede these evaluators ultimately concluded that Ghilotti no longer meets the statutory criteria for commitment.

However, the Director disagreed with the designated evaluators' recommendations. According to the Director, the evaluators' reports agreed that supervision and treatment are important to reduce Ghilotti's risk of reoffense. In the Director's view, the reports actually disclosed a likelihood that Ghilotti will reoffend if released without such conditions. Moreover, the Director asserted, hospital psychiatrists most familiar with Ghilotti's treatment progress are convinced that he is not ready for unconditional release, and that his mental disorder still creates a high danger of reoffense in that circumstance.

Therefore, despite the evaluators' contrary recommendations, the Director wrote to the Marin District Attorney, asking her to file a superior court petition seeking Ghilotti's recommitment. The district attorney did so. The petition attached the Director's letter, which expressed his disagreement with the evaluators' conclusions and indicated his further concern that, by correct statutory criteria, the evaluators' reports actually supported Ghilotti's recommitment. Also attached to the petition were declarations from hospital psychiatrists urging that Ghilotti is not yet suitable for unsupervised release.

However, the designated evaluators' reports themselves were not provided to the superior court. The district attorney did not ask the court to review the reports to determine if they reached their conclusions by incorrect statutory standards and were therefore legally deficient. Instead, she argued that the Director may disregard the designated evaluators' recommendations, and may request the filing of a petition for commitment or recommitment, if he independently concludes the candidate is or remains dangerously disordered and likely to reoffend without treatment and custody.

The superior court expressed concern that the designated evaluators' reports had incorrectly applied the statutory criteria and were thus legally "incompetent." However, the court rejected the district attorney's sole argument that the Director may request a petition without regard to the contrary recommendations of the designated evaluators. Accordingly, the superior court dismissed the petition and ordered Ghilotti's release.

The People sought mandamus and a temporary stay in the Court of Appeal, raising again the single argument the superior court had rejected. The Court of Appeal summarily denied relief, making clear it agreed with the superior court that the Director cannot simply overrule or disregard the designated evaluators' recommendations against commitment.

We granted review and issued an order to show cause, staying Ghilotti's release in the meantime, to address the issue presented in the courts below and to consider certain additional issues that are potentially important to the proper disposition of this and other SVPA proceedings, and otherwise might evade review. The matter was set for expedited briefing and argument. We now reach the following conclusions:

First, contrary to the People's argument below, a petition seeking the commitment or recommitment of a person as a sexually violent predator cannot be filed unless two mental health professionals, specifically designated by the Director under statutory procedures to evaluate the person for this purpose, have agreed, by correct application of the statutory standards, that the person "has a diagnosed mental disorder so that he or she is likely to engage in acts of sexual violence without appropriate treatment and custody." (§ 6601, subd. (d).)

Second, this statutory standard is met if, because of the person's diagnosed mental disorder, he or she currently presents a substantial danger—that is, a serious and well-founded risk—of criminal sexual violence unless maintained in an appropriate custodial setting which offers mandatory treatment for the disorder. On the other hand, section 6601, subdivision (d), does not require an evaluator to determine there is a better than even chance of new criminal sexual violence if the person is free of custody and mandatory treatment. An evaluator's conclusion that one does not meet the criteria for commitment or recommitment is legally erroneous if it stems from a conclusion that, although the person presents a serious and well-founded risk of reoffense if free without conditions, the evaluator cannot say the risk exceeds 50 percent.

Third, an evaluator's recommendation for or against commitment or recommitment is invalid if there appears a reasonable probability it was influenced by the evaluator's legal error, including misinterpretation of the "likely to reoffend" standard. The recommendation of an evaluator is subject to judicial review for such material legal error at the behest of the appropriate: party. If, upon review, the court finds no material legal error on the face of the report, the court shall deem the evaluator's recommendation valid, and shall dispose of the petition accordingly. If the court finds material legal error on the face of the report, it shall direct that the erring evaluator prepare a new or corrected report applying correct legal standards. Because several of the issues we decide are matters of first impression, the courts and parties were unaware of the appropriate procedures at all stages below. Under the circumstances, we conclude we must vacate the Court of Appeal's order denying mandamus. We will remand the cause to the Court of Appeal with directions (1) to issue a writ of mandamus vacating the superior court's order dismissing the recommitment petition, and (2) to remand the matter to the superior court for further proceedings consistent with the views expressed herein.

FACTS

On November 28, 2001, the Marin District Attorney filed in Marin Superior Court a petition (the 2001 recommitment petition) seeking Ghilotti's recommitment to a two-year term of hospital confinement and treatment under the SVPA.

The 2001 recommitment petition alleged: In March 1979 and September 1985, Ghilotti was convicted in Marin Superior Court of four counts of forcible oral copulation (Pen.Code, § 288a, subd. (c)), which are sexually violent predatory offenses as defined by the SVPA. The offenses were against multiple victims. In September 1997, as Ghilotti's prison terms for these crimes drew to a close, an SVPA commitment petition, supported by the evaluations of two designated mental health professionals, was filed in Marin Superior Court. In March 1998, a jury found Ghilotti to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) as defined by the Act, and he was committed for a two-year hospital term to expire on March 4, 2000. In December 1999, a recommitment petition, again supported by the reports of two designated evaluators, was filed. A probable cause hearing on the 1999 recommitment petition was set for April 3, 2000. Ghilotti then stipulated to an extension of his term until December 1, 2001.

The 2001 recommitment petition continued: In December 2000, during his extended term, Ghilotti filed a petition under section 6608 for "release into a conditional release plan with terms and conditions. The court made a finding that ... Ghilotti would be a suitable candidate for conditional release. Ultimately, on October 1, 2001, ... Ghilotti refused to accept the terms and conditions of release as set forth by the Department of Mental Health and CONREP [(i.e., the conditional release program)] that would permit his release."

The 2001 recommitment petition further alleged: On November 9, 2001, the Director requested the district attorney to seek another two-year SVP commitment for Ghilotti. The request stated the Director's opinion that Ghilotti still suffers from a mental disorder which makes him likely to engage in sexually violent criminal...