Conservatorship of Everette M.

The Case

In September 1988 the public guardian filed a petition for appointment of a conservator for appellant, Everette M., under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 5350-5352). In October, at the initial hearing on the petition, appellant consented to imposition of the conservatorship after an examining physician determined he was gravely disabled due to a mental disorder. The court appointed the Fresno County Director of Health appellant’s conservator and gave the conservator power to place appellant in a treatment facility or hospital and to require him to receive involuntary psychiatric treatment. The court found the least restrictive placement to be a locked psychiatric facility which provided for maximum security.

The court ordered appellant transferred to the acute psychiatric unit from Fresno County jail shortly thereafter. About two weeks later, the conservator moved him to the Fresno Care and Guidance Center. The conservator eventually placed him in the Riley Board and Care Home, where he was residing at the time he petitioned for a rehearing in April 1989 on the ground he was no longer gravely disabled.

After appellant presented evidence…