People v. White CA4/1

I. Background White was 44 years old at the time of his recommitment trial. He has been a patient at ASH since January 2010. Before his commitment, he served a two-year sentence in state prison. White’s first qualifying offense occurred in 2004, when he pled guilty to petty theft with a prior, after he refused to pay for a cup of coffee, demanded a pack of cigarettes, and told a convenience store employee he had a gun. (§§ 484 & 666.) The second offense took place in 2006 while he was on probation, when he punched a convenience store employee in the mouth. For that offense, the jury convicted him of robbery (§ 211) and petty theft with a prior (§§ 484 & 666).

“OMHD prisoners ‘were previously described as mentally disordered offenders, or MDO’s. The Legislature recently changed this terminology to “offender with a mental health disorder.” ’ ” (People v. McCray (2023) 98 Cal.App.5th 260, 264, fn. 1 (citation omitted); Stats 2019, ch. 9, § 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.) For convenience, we use the “OMHD” acronym throughout this opinion.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 In early January 2025, the People filed a petition to extend White’s OMHD…