In Re Krieger

Petitioner Richard Frederick Krieger, confined by the Director of Corrections at the California Men's Colony, East Facility, Los Padres, San Luis Obispo County, for an indeterminate period as a mentally disordered sex offender filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus upon the ground that there was no valid underlying criminal conviction at the time he was recertified by the Municipal Court of the Los Angeles Judicial District to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County under section 5518 of the Welfare and Institutions Code on September 30, 1966. We conclude that we are compelled to grant the writ and order petitioner released from custody. On September 15, 1965, petitioner pleaded guilty to a violation of section 2141 of the Business and Professions Code (practicing medicine without a license) in the Municipal Court of the Los Angeles Judicial District. On October, 6, 1965, the municipal court certified petitioner to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County as a possible mentally disordered sex offender (hereafter "a MDSO"). As a result of proceedings pursuant to section 5512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, petitioner was committed to the Atascadero State Hospital…