People v. Aguilar CA5

FACTS

I

PROSECUTION EVIDENCE

The testimony of Dr. Michael Selby. Dr. Michael Selby, a board-certified forensic psychologist and professor of psychology at California State University, San Luis Obispo, had performed mentally disordered offender (MDO) and SVP evaluations for a number of years. He had also performed evaluations for the San Luis Obispo courts with respect to competency and sanity (NGI).

Recently, in Reilly v. Superior Court (2013) 57 Cal.4th 641, the California Supreme Court held that, when evaluations initially supporting the filing of a commitment petition are conducted under an assessment protocol later determined to be an invalid regulation, the petition did not necessarily need to be dismissed. Unless the SVP shows the invalid assessment protocol materially affected his or her initial evaluation, “„the question of whether a person is a sexually violent predator should be left to the trier of fact.‟” (Id. at p. 656.) The high court disapproved Ronje to the extent it was inconsistent with their holding. (Reilly v. Superior Court, at pp. 646, 652-653.) The Department of Mental Health is now known as the Department of State Hospitals. To maintain…