California Court of Appeal

In an action involving a trial court order committing defendant to Porterville State Hospital, the trial court erred where: 1) due process rights are violated when the trial court determines that the charges pending against defendant involved death, great bodily injury, or an act which poses a serious threat of bodily harm to another person under Welfare and Institutions Code sec. 6500 as it is a matter for a jury; and 2) before a jury determines whether a person meets the criteria of Welfare and Institutions Code sec. 6500, the trial court must instruct the jury to find whether the person's mental retardation is a substantial factor in causing serious difficulty in controlling their dangerous behavior. However, the appeal is dismissed as moot since the commitment order has expired.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/24/2009
• Published 06/24/2009

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Christopher Blake, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, San Diego, for Defendant and Appellant., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, and Peter Quon, Jr., and Angela M. Borzachillo, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.