Woodard
Woodard v. Mayberg
Opinion
Opinion
Breyer, J.
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
A jury in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Alameda found petitioner to be a sexually violent predator under California’s Sexually Violent Predator Act, Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 6600 (“SVPA”), and civilly committed him to Atascadero State Hospital for a period of two years. Petitioner unsuccessfully appealed to the California Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of California, which on August 29, 2001 denied review. (The state high court also rejected two requests for habeas relief.)
Petitioner then filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 . Per order filed on November 19, 2001, the court found that the petition, liberally construed, stated cognizable claims under § 2254 and ordered respondent to show cause why a writ of habeas corpus should not be granted. Respondent has filed an answer to the order to show cause and petitioner has filed a traverse.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The California Court of Appeal summarized the facts of the case as follows:
People v. Woodard, No. A092032, slip op. at 1-4 (Cal. Ct.App. June 22, 2001) (Resp’t Ex. 2).