People v. Superior Court (Woods)

Real party in interest Leonard Woods, who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state mental hospital, seeks his release from his hospital commitment on the ground that his sanity has been restored. (Pen. Code, § 1026.2.) Section 1026.2, subdivision (e) provides that no person shall be released for restoration of sanity until after he or she spends a year in a local outpatient program. Real party has not undergone outpatient treatment as part of his commitment, but respondent superior court proposes to conduct a section 1026.2 hearing on the issue of real party’s outright release. The People seek a writ of mandate to compel the court to proceed on the issue of outpatient suitability only. We will issue the requested writ.

Real party pled not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI) to a charge of train derailing (§219) in 1980. He was duly committed to the California State Hospital system for life. In October 1989, he petitioned the superior court, by letter, for release on the ground of restoration of sanity. (§ 1026.2.) In response to a court request the medical director of Napa State Hospital, where real party is currently confined, filed a…