People v. SUPERIOR COURT (WHITLEY)

By petition for writ of mandate, the People challenge an order of the trial court dismissing a petition for the civil commitment of real party in interest Barry Whitley under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (the Act). (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.) We will grant the People’s petition and direct the trial court to vacate its order of dismissal and to proceed instead with a probable cause hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 6602.

Background

We summarized the convoluted history of Whitley’s confinement in Terhune v. Superior Court (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 864 [ 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 841 ] (Terhune). As relevant here, Whitley was scheduled for release on parole from his determinate sentence in mid-August 1996. Sometime before that date, the Department of Corrections referred him to the Department of Mental Health for evaluation under the Act, and the District Attorney of Contra Costa County (the district attorney) filed a petition for his commitment as a sexually violent predator. In September 1996, the trial court dismissed that petition for lack of probable cause. In November 1996, Whitley’s parole was revoked for 12 months for psychiatric treatment under…