People v. Superior Court (Ghilotti)

I agree with the majority that a petition seeking the commitment or recommitment of a person under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (the Act) (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.) 1 cannot be filed unless two mental health professionals designated by the Director of the State Department of Mental Health (the Director) “concur that the person has a diagnosed mental disorder so that he or she is likely to engage in acts of sexual violence without appropriate treatment and custody.” (§ 6601, subd. (d).) Contrary to the argument advanced by the Attorney General, the Director is not empowered under subdivision (h) of section 6601 to seek a petition for commitment or recommitment if the designated evaluators conclude that the person does not meet the statutory criteria.

*934 I write separately because I do not join in part B.2 of the majority opinion, which addresses “whether a court entertaining a petition for an involuntary civil commitment has authority to review for legal error the expert evaluations which are a prerequisite to the filing of such a petition.” (Maj. opn. ante, at p. 910.) In my view, this issue is not raised by the circumstances of the present case, because neither…

The Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA or Act) (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.) 1 provides a court process by which certain convicted violent sex offenders, whose current mental disorders make them likely to reoffend if free, may be committed, at the end of their prison terms, for successive two-year periods of state hospital confinement and treatment as long as the disorder-related danger persists. Before an SVPA commitment or recommitment proceeding may even be initiated, at least two mental health professionals designated by the Director of the State Department of Mental Health (Director) must evaluate the candidate under a standardized assessment protocol to determine whether, as the result of a diagnosed mental disorder, the person is likely to commit new acts of criminal sexual violence unless confined and treated. (§ 6601.)

Petitioner Patrick Henry Ghilotti served two separate prison terms for multiple violent sex offenses committed in Marin County. He has been in state hospital confinement under the SVPA since his second prison term expired in 1998. Recently, psychologists designated by the Director conducted formal evaluations of Ghilotti’s current…

Joseph L. Spaeth, Public Defender, Frank J. Cox, Chief Deputy Public Defender, and Edward J. Farrell, Deputy Public Defender, for Real Party in Interest.

Ron Boyer, Deputy Public Defender (Contra Costa); Jean F. Matulis; and John Philipsborn for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and California Public Defenders Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Real Party in Interest.

BAXTER, J.

The Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA or Act) (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 6600 et seq.) [1] provides a court process by which certain convicted violent sex offenders, whose current mental disorders make them likely to reoffend if free, may be committed, at the end of their prison terms, for successive two-year periods of state hospital confinement and treatment as long as the disorder-related danger persists. Before an SVPA commitment or recommitment proceeding may even be initiated, at least two mental health professionals designated by the Director of the State Department of Mental Health (Director) must evaluate the candidate under a standardized assessment protocol to determine whether, as the result of a diagnosed mental disorder, the person is likely to commit new acts of criminal…