Supreme Court of California

A court of appeals' decision modifying the term of defendant's civil commitment as a sexually violent predator from two years (the term agreed to pursuant to a signed stipulation), to an indeterminate term as provided by Proposition 83's amendments to Welfare and Institutions Code section 6604, is reversed where, in light of the uncertain state of the law at the time the stipulation was signed and enforced in the present case and the parties' evident intent in signing the agreement, to avoid the unwarranted dismissal of long-pending SVP petitions, the stipulation should be enforced under the judicial estoppel doctrine.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/24/2010
• Published 05/24/2010

Judges

• GEORGE, C.J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Rudy Kraft, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant., Michael P. Judge, Public Defender (Los Angeles), Albert J. Menaster and Jack T. Weedin, Deputy Public Defenders, for Public Defender of Los Angeles County as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Steve Cooley, District Attorney (Los Angeles), Irene Wakabayashi, Head Deputy District Attorney, and Jennifer C. McDonald, Deputy District Attorney, for District Attorney of Los Angeles County as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Lawrence M. Daniels, Susan Sullivan Pithey and Chung L. Mar, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.