People v. Superior Court

The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments, bars the execution of mentally retarded persons for criminal offenses. (Atkins v. Virginia (2002) 536 U.S. 304, 321 [ 153 L.Ed.2d 335 , 122 S.Ct. 2242 ] (Atkins).) California law, implementing the constitutional command of Atkins , provides a substantive standard and a set of procedures for determining, at the time of trial, whether a person against whom the prosecution seeks the death penalty is mentally retarded. (Pen. Code, § 1376.) This case presents two issues relating to the prejudgment determination of mental retardation: (1) May the People obtain pretrial appellate review of a trial court’s determination that the defendant is mentally retarded? (2) If such review is available, did the trial court here employ an incorrect legal standard in finding that defendant (real party in interest Jorge Junior Vidal) is mentally retarded?

On the question of reviewability, we conclude a pretrial finding of mental retardation is appealable under section 1238, subdivision (a)(8), as an order “terminating . . . any portion of the action . . . before the defendant has been placed in…