Gerold

The People charged defendant and respondent, Scot B. Gerold, by information with assault with a deadly weapon by force likely to produce great bodily injury and terrorist threats. Defendant pled not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI). The court found defendant guilty of the charged offenses after completion of the initial stage of the trial. Upon conclusion of the sanity phase, the court found defendant NGI. Defendant was committed to a state hospital for just over four years. Nearly five and one-half years after his release from confinement, defendant filed a petition pursuant to Penal Code section 851.8 to have his arrest records for the underlying offenses sealed and destroyed. The court granted the request.

On appeal, the People contend the court acted in excess of its jurisdiction in granting the petition because it was not brought within the statutory timeframe, i.e., within two years of the filing of the accusatory pleading. Likewise, the People maintain that defendant failed to sustain his burden of showing, and the court failed to find, good cause for not complying with that statutory deadline. Finally, the People argue that defendant is simply not the type of…