People v. Woodward CA2/6

Facts In December 2009, appellant was convicted of resisting an executive officer with force or violence (§ 69) after a physical confrontation with a woman from whom he had previously rented a room. In 2011, appellant was convicted of setting fire to an inhabited structure. (§ 452, subd. (b).) He was transferred to Atascadero State Hospital in November 2012, as a mentally ill inmate and initially certified as an MDO two days later. (§§ 2684, 2962.) Kevin Perry, Ph. D., a forensic psychologist, conducted appellant's annual MDO evaluation in November 2013. Although he concluded that appellant suffers from the severe mental disorder of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, Perry also opined that appellant's symptoms are controlled by medication and can be kept in remission without treatment. He further opined appellant did not represent a substantial danger of physical harm to others by reason of his mental illness. Perry's opinions were based on a clinical interview with appellant and on his review of appellant's Department of Corrections record and the hospital progress notes relating to appellant's treatment. During the interview, appellant presented…