California Court of Appeal

Trial court judgment granting the People's motions to retroactively apply the indeterminate term of civil commitment pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predators Act to the initial commitments of the defendants is reversed where: 1) imposing an indeterminate term under the SVPA amendments does not violate due process, equal protection, or ex post facto principles when a defendant is afforded a trial to determine if he or she currently meets SVP criteria; and 2) the defendants were denied a trial on their current status as sexually violent predators, requiring reversal of the retroactive conversion of their initial commitments and remand for further proceedings to determine their status. Additionally, defendant Reynolds's initial commitment was not void despite the fact the psychological assessment protocol had not been formally adopted.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/04/2009
• Published 06/04/2009

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Chris Truax, San Diego, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendants and Appellants Eric Wayne Taylor, George Wright, and Robert Landis., Rudy Kraft, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, and Linda Acaldo for Defendant and Appellant Steven Arthur Reynolds., Linda Acaldo, Los Angeles, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Michael Badura., Rod Pacheco, District Attorney, and Elise J. Farrell, Deputy District Attorney, for Plaintiff and Respondent.