Cuccia
Cuccia v. Superior Court
Opinion
Opinion
Gregory D. Totten, District Attorney, Michelle J. Contois, Deputy District Attorney, for real party in interest.
No appearance for Respondent.
YEGAN, J.
The doctrine of stare decisis requires a trial court to follow an unambiguous published holding of the Court of Appeal, even if the trial court believes that the appellate opinion was erroneously decided. This, we had assumed, was fairly obvious to every trial court judge; that is, until now.
Salvatore David Cuccia (Petitioner) seeks a writ of mandate directing the respondent superior court to dismiss recommitment proceedings initiated by the district attorney pursuant to the Mentally Disordered Offender Act (MDO). (Pen. Code § 2960, et seq.) [1] He contends the district attorney does not have statutory authority to initiate recommitment proceedings for his involuntary civil commitment unless the Medical Director of the treating state hospital determines that his severe mental disorder is not in remission or cannot be kept in remission without treatment. We agree with the holding of People v. Marchman (2006) 145 Cal. App.4th 79 , 51 Cal.Rptr.3d 369 (Marchman ) and grant his petition for a writ of mandate.