Allen
People v. Allen
Opinion
Opinion
Defendant Tony Lee Allen appeals from an order of recommitment after a jury determined he remains a sexually violent predator (SVP) under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA). (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 6600 et seq.) [1] Defendant challenges the order on the sole ground that he was deprived of his constitutional right to testify on his own behalf at his SVP trial.
We conclude defendant did not have a constitutional right to testify over his attorney's objection because the SVP proceedings are special proceedings of a civil nature and his attorney could waive his right to testify on the ground doing so would be harmful to defendant's defense. We affirm the order of recommitment.
On November 29, 2004, the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office filed a petition seeking to recommit defendant to the Department of Mental Health (Department) on the ground that he remained an SVP within the SVPA.
Defendant's two predicate offenses occurred in 1990. In both crimes, defendant entered the victims' cars as the women were in or getting in their cars and he told them to drive to a secluded location where he raped and/or sodomized them.