Supreme Court of California
People v. Stevens, 209643
In defendant's challenge to his commitment under the Mentally Disordered Offender Act (MDO Act), Pen. Code section 2960 et seq., the commitment is reversed where: 1) a mental health expert's testimony in support of a defendant's MDO commitment may not be used to prove the defendant committed a qualifying offense involving one of the offenses specified in section 2962, subdivision (e)(2)(A) through (O) or involved behavior described in subdivision (e)(2)(P) or (Q); and 2) mental health experts may not testify about a topic that is not sufficiently beyond common experience that the opinion of an expert would assist the trier of fact, Evid. Code section 801(a).
Appellate Information
- Decided
- Published 2015/12/10
Judges
- CHIN
Court
- Supreme Court of California