People v. Superior Court (Ramirez)

• Decision Date: 30 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. A085269,A085269
• Citation: 83 Cal.Rptr.2d 402,70 Cal.App.4th 1384
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2328, 1999 Daily Journal D.A.R. 3027 The PEOPLE, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the City and County of San Francisco, Respondent; Carlos RAMIREZ, Real Party in Interest.

Page 402

83 Cal.Rptr.2d 402

70 Cal.App.4th 1384, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2328,

1999 Daily Journal D.A.R. 3027

The PEOPLE, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the City and County of San Francisco, Respondent Carlos RAMIREZ, Real Party in Interest.

No. A085269.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division 2, California.

March 30, 1999.

Brendan Conroy By appointment of the Court of Appeal under the First District Appellate Project Independent Case System for Real Party in Interest.

Daniel E. Lungren/Bill Lockyer, Attorneys General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Peter J. Siggins, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Bruce M. Slavin, Supervising Deputy Attorney, General Greg Mangani, Deputy Attorney General, for the People.

HAERLE, Acting P.J.

I. INTRODUCTION

By petition for writ of mandate, the People challenge an order of the trial court dismissing a petition for the civil commitment of real party Carlos Ramirez under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA or Act). (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 6600 et seq.) ¹ The issue presented is whether a petition to extend Ramirez's commitment, filed four days before his release date, was timely filed under the Act. In this issue of first impression, we conclude that the trial court erred in finding the petition untimely. We will grant the People's petition and direct the trial court to vacate its order of dismissal and to proceed instead with a trial under Welfare and Institutions Code section 6604. ²

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 8, 1997, Ramirez waived trial and stipulated that he was a person described by section 6600 of the Act, and that he would be committed to the Department of Mental Health for two years. As part of the stipulation, his two-year commitment was to commence on September 1, 1996, and end on September 1, 1998.

On August 27, 1998, the People filed a petition for recommitment of Ramirez as a sexually violent predator pursuant to section 6604. The petition was based on a request from the Medical Director of Atascadero State Hospital that Ramirez be recommitted because the treatment staff believed that Ramirez remained a danger to the health and safety of others and was likely to engage in sexually violent criminal behavior if discharged. Ramirez had been convicted of three counts of annoying/molesting a child under 18 years, one count of false imprisonment, three counts of sending harmful matter with the intent to seduce a minor, five counts of sodomy, and one count of rape.

On August 31, 1998, the court heard brief argument and signed an order directing that Ramirez be detained in a secure facility pursuant to section 6604 based upon its finding that there was probable cause to believe that Ramirez was likely to engage in sexually violent predatory criminal behavior upon release from custody.

The matter was originally set for trial on November 23, 1998, but counsel for Ramirez moved to continue the trial date based upon counsel's unavailability and his desire to file a motion to dismiss. Ramirez then filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, which was heard on December 11, 1998. In that motion, he contended the petition for recommitment was untimely because the filing of it four days before his original commitment was to expire denied him the right to a trial before the expiration of his original commitment. The People opposed the motion on the ground that the Act sets no time requirement for a subsequent commitment trial.

After hearing argument on the motion to dismiss, the trial court granted the motion on December 15, 1998, ordering the petition dismissed and Ramirez released. In ruling that the petition was untimely, the court relied on People v. Kirkland (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 891, 29 Cal.Rptr.2d 863, a case that interpreted the time limits set forth in the Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) Act. (Pen.Code, § 2960 et seq.) By analogy to the MDO Act the trial court concluded that the trial must be completed before the expiration date of the commitment. Accordingly, the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to act on the petition. Recognizing that the issue was one of first impression, the court stayed the effective date of the order until December 30, 1998, to allow the People time to seek writ review. We further stayed the trial court's order and issued an order to show cause why a peremptory writ of mandate should not issue as prayed for in the petition.

III. DISCUSSION

The issue presented is whether the Act requires that the recommitment trial be completed before the date the original commitment term expires. Since the Act is new, there is little case law interpreting it and nothing on the precise question presented. ³ Our Supreme Court has recently upheld the SVPA against a facial challenge to its constitutionality in Hubbart v. Superior Court (1999) 19 Cal.4th 1138, 81 Cal.Rptr.2d 492, 969 P.2d 584, and the United States Supreme Court likewise upheld the constitutionality of a similar Kansas statute in Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) 521 U.S. 346, 117 S.Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501. Although Hubbart did not address the question before us, its discussion of the history and purpose of the SVPA provides some guidance.

"The scheme under consideration here took effect January 1, 1996. (Stats.1995, ch. 763, § 3.) In describing the underlying purpose, the Legislature expressed concern over a select group of criminal offenders who are extremely dangerous as the result of mental impairment, and who are likely to continue committing acts of sexual violence even after they have been punished for such crimes. The Legislature indicated that to the extent such persons are currently incarcerated and readily identifiable, commitment under the SVPA is warranted immediately upon their release from prison. The Act provides treatment for mental disorders from which they currently suffer and reduces the threat of harm otherwise posed to the public. No punitive purpose was intended. (Id., § 1.)" (Hubbart v. Superior Court, supra, 19 Cal.4th at pp. 1143-1144, 81 Cal.Rptr.2d 492, 969 P.2d 584.)

The SVPA establishes a procedure for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Sexually violent predators are defined in section 6600 as persons who: (1) have been convicted of specified sexually violent offenses against two or more victims for which they received determinate sentences; and (2) have a diagnosed mental disorder that makes them a danger to the health and safety of others in that it is likely that they will engage in sexually violent criminal behavior. The Department of Corrections refers inmates for an initial evaluation by the Department of Mental Health to determine whether they are sexually violent predators. (§ 6601, subd (a).) The reference for evaluation is to be made at least six months before the scheduled release date, and the evaluation is to be conducted by two mental health professionals. (§ 6601, subds. (a), (d).)

If the evaluators agree that the individual is a sexually violent predator, the Director of the Department of Mental Health must forward a request for a petition for commitment to the county in which the prisoner was last convicted. (§ 6601, subd. (d).) Upon the filing of the petition, the trial court must hold a hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the person is likely to engage in sexually violent predatory criminal behavior upon release. If probable cause is found, the court must order a trial and must order that the person "remain in custody in a secure facility until a trial is completed...." (§ 6602.) The SVPA affords the individual a number of procedural safeguards, including the right to trial by a jury, the assistance of counsel, and the right to retain experts. The standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, and the verdict must be unanimous. (§§ 6603, 6604.)

A person determined at trial to be a sexually violent predator must be committed to the custody of the Department of Mental Health for appropriate treatment and confinement in a secure facility for two years, and is subject to extended commitments incident to the filing of new petitions. (§ 6604.) The SVPA provides for annual review of the individual's mental condition and for unconditional release and discharge upon a determination that the person is no longer a sexually violent predator. (§ 6605.) There are also provisions allowing the individual to petition the court for conditional release. The court may release an individual who has been confined for at least one year to a forensic conditional release program upon finding that the committed person would not be a danger to others due to his or her diagnosed mental disorder while under supervision and treatment in the community. (§ 6608, subd. (a), (c).)

The SVPA contains few time requirements. Section 6601, subdivision (a), provides that the initial screening generally should be commenced at least six months prior to the inmate's scheduled release date. Section 6601 does not set any time by which the Director of Mental Health is to forward a request for a petition or the county's designated counsel is to file the petition, but it does require that the individual be in custody. (§ 6601, subds. (a), (h), (i).) Section 6601.3 provides for a parole hold of 45 days if the individual's parole date will be reached before the Department of Mental Health has completed its evaluation. In cases where an inmate's parole hold will expire before a probable cause hearing is conducted, section 6601.5 authorizes an urgency review which, based on the face of the petition, allows the court to order the individual detained for an additional 10 days. The probable cause hearing, however, must be held within that 10-day period. (§ 6601.5.) Section 6602 contains no express time requirement for conducting the probable cause hearing. ⁴ Once probable cause is found, the Act requires only that "the person remain in custody in a secure...