West

Introduction

A jury found appellant Lonnie West to be a sexually violent predator within the meaning of section 6600, subdivision (a) of the Sexually Violent Predators Act (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq., hereinafter the SVP Act or the Act). The court then committed him to the Department of Mental Health for a two-year period. (See § 6604.) He contends on this appeal that the jury’s finding that he is a sexually violent predator is not supported by substantial evidence. At the time of appellant’s trial, the definition of “sexually violent predator” included a requirement that the “person . . . has been convicted of a sexually violent offense against two or more victims for which he or she received a determinate sentence . . . .” (§ 6600, subd. (a).) Although appellant stipulated at trial that he was convicted of forcible rape in 1975 and again in 1983, he contends that there was no evidence he received a determinate sentence for the 1975 rape conviction. Therefore, he says, the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to demonstrate that he fell within the definition of the term “sexually violent predator.” In order to place appellant’s argument in context, we…