May

William Edward Preston May filed this appeal from an order recommitting him to Atascadero State Hospital as a mentally disordered offender (MDO). (Pen. Code, § 2972, subd. (c).) May does not challenge the sufficiency of evidence supporting his recommitment but instead argues the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to decide whether he should be released for outpatient treatment. The question squarely presented in this appeal, and apparently not addressed in any previous decision, is whether Penal Code section 2972, subdivision (d) authorizes the trial court to release an MDO for outpatient treatment without following the outpatient release procedures described in Penal Code section 1600 et seq. We conclude section 2972, subdivision (d) describes a separate procedure for placing civilly committed MDO’s on outpatient status, and the requirements of sections 1603 and 1604 do not apply. Accordingly, we remand for the trial court to consider whether May should be released for outpatient treatment.

BACKGROUND

As a condition of his parole following a felony conviction for mating terrorist threats (§ 422), May was involuntarily committed to the State Department of…