Cheek

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, Acting P.J.

In July of 1997, defendant Michael Thomas Cheek was found to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) under Welfare and Institutions Code [1] section 6600, et seq., the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA), and he was committed to the State Department of Mental Health (DMH) for two years. In 1998, pursuant to section 6605, the DMH performed a "current examination" of defendant's mental condition and provided defendant with "an annual written notice" of his right to petition the trial court for conditional release under section 6608. As defendant did not "affirmatively waive" his right to petition the court for conditional release, the trial court set a show cause hearing "to determine whether facts exist that warrant a hearing on whether the person's condition has so changed that he or she would not be a danger to the health and safety to others if discharged." (§ 6605, subd. (b).) At the show cause hearing, the trial court ordered defendant to remain committed for the balance of the two-year term.

Defendant contends that the trial court erred by (1) ruling that defendant was not entitled to call or cross-examine witnesses at the show cause hearing…