Herrera

On November 25, 1996, Ronald Steven Herrera (appellant) was committed to the California Department of Mental Health for two years after a jury found that he was a sexually violent predator within the meaning of the Sexually Violent Predator Act. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6604.) We affirmed the judgment in an unpublished opinion (People v. Herrera (May 20, 1998) B108605), the California Supreme Court denied review, and the order is final.

Appellant contends that the superior court erred by summarily denying his petition to be conditionally released without appointing counsel or conducting a show cause hearing. We affirm. We hasten to observe that the instant appeal is not from the two-year commitment order. Rather, it is from an order denying appellant’s request for early release.

Statutory Framework and Proceedings Below

Section 6605 requires that the Department of Mental Health annually examine appellant’s mental condition and give appellant written notice of his right to petition for conditional release pursuant to section 6608. Section 6605, subdivision (b), states in pertinent part: “If the person does not affirmatively waive his or her right to petition the court for…