People v. Garland CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Jackie Lee Garland served nine years in state prison for forcibly raping and committing other sex crimes against a woman he did not know. When he became eligible for parole, the district attorney instituted civil commitment proceedings against him under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (Welf. &

Inst. Code,1 § 6600 et seq.; SVPA). After a pretrial delay of twenty years, the matter proceeded to a bench trial. At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court found Garland was a sexually violent predator and committed him to the Department of State Hospitals (DSH). Garland appeals. He challenges the commitment order on several grounds, claiming: (1) there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that he was a sexually violent predator in need of commitment; (2) the court improperly admitted hearsay evidence offered by the prosecution; (3) the court erroneously limited the testimony of his expert witness; and (4) the pretrial delay violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial. We reject Garland’s arguments concerning the sufficiency of the evidence and the court’s evidentiary rulings. Further, although the pretrial delay was undoubtedly…