People v. Superior Court (George)

Real party in interest Paul George is an adjudicated sexually violent predator (SVP) who has been deemed eligible for placement in a conditional, supervised release program. Because of the extreme geographic restrictions that limit where such a person may reside, the State Department of Mental Health (the department) was unable over the course of a year to place George within San Francisco, the county of his domicile. When the department was about to seek court permission to place George in a conditional release program outside of San Francisco, his two-year commitment under the former provisions of the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA), Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600 et seq., was about to expire. The district attorney filed a new petition to recommit George. In preparing to commence jury trial the issue arose whether, to establish George’s continuing status as an SVP, it is necessary to prove that public safety requires his continued custody in a locked facility or whether it is sufficient to prove that public safety requires at least commitment to a supervised community placement. The trial court adopted the former view and, since the district attorney…