Hayes

This is an appeal from an order, following a jury verdict, recommitting defendant Dexter Hayes as a sexually violent predator (SVP). It arises out of the procedural entanglement of conducting a probable cause hearing simultaneously with trial.

In the fall of 2000, a jury found defendant to be an SVP within the meaning of Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600. As a result, the trial court civilly committed him to a treatment facility of the Department of Mental Health for two years. (§§ 6600, 6604.) We affirmed the SVP commitment in a prior proceeding. (People v. Hayes (Mar. 26, 2002, A093285) [nonpub. opn.].)

As we shall explain further, post, the People petitioned to recommit defendant as an SVP. This required a pretrial probable cause hearing on the recommitment petition. Instead of conducting a probable cause hearing within a reasonable time of the filing of the petition to recommit, the trial court conducted the hearing at the conclusion of, instead of before and as a prerequisite to, the trial on that petition. The deviation from statutory requirements amounts to procedural error which affected defendant’s due process. But on the facts of this case, we must…