People v. Garcia CA6

I. INTRODUCTION

After a court trial, defendant Manuel Garcia1 was found to be a mentally disordered offender (MDO) and was ordered committed for continued involuntary treatment for one year, until November 25, 2014. (See Pen. Code, §§ 2970, 2972.)2 On appeal, defendant contests the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding that he is an MDO. He contends that the commitment order should be reversed and that he should be released. While the appeal was pending, defendant’s term of commitment expired and he was apparently released. In response to our request for supplemental briefing, the parties agree that the appeal is now moot. As we will explain, we will dismiss the appeal.

1 The record on appeal contains documents that also refer to defendant as “Manuel Ronald Garcia” and “Manuel Ruano Garcia.” 2 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

II. BACKGROUND

In April 2013, the district attorney filed a petition to extend defendant’s involuntary treatment as an MDO for one year. According to the petition, defendant had been convicted of violating sections 245, subdivision (a)(1), and 288, subdivision (a). In 1992, defendant was…