Beck

Joseph Beck, who was earlier acquitted of criminal charges by reason of insanity, now appeals an order conditionally releasing him from a state mental hospital, contending that he was entitled to immediate and unconditional release. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

On September 30,1992, appellant pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of kidnapping with an enhancement for infliction of great bodily injury. Counsel stipulated to submit the issue of sanity to the court on the written reports of two psychiatrists. The psychiatric reports reveal that appellant, aged 29, lived in South Carolina and worked for his father in the trucking business. A former marine, he was married and had three children. On long trucking hauls, he was accustomed to consuming extremely large quantities of caffeine to stay alert. On July 27, 1992, he and his father were in Solano County on a cross-country haul. While waiting for a warehouse to open, appellant experienced delusions of rattlesnakes in the truck. For obscure reasons, he began to struggle with his father, inflicted serious knife wounds and then drove around aimlessly before being apprehended. Finding that…