In re Walkee

This is a companion case to In re Marks, ante, p. 31 [ 77 Cal.Rptr. 1 , 453 P.2d 441 ], also decided this day. With one crucial exception, the contentions are the same as those raised in Marks and are without merit for the reasons there stated. The exception, a challenge to the validity of the initial commitment for narcotics addiction, is meritorious and requires issuance of the writ of habeas corpus.

The present application was filed on behalf of Alyce Mae Walker (hereinafter called petitioner), currently confined in the California Rehabilitation Center under an order of-com *56 mitment as a “civil” narcotics addict. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 3100 et seq.)' The circumstances of her commitment are as follows:

In the early morning- hours of April 18, 1967, petitioner, ill as a result of ing-esting sleeping pills and alcohol, Consulted her private physician. After an examination he gave her a handwritten note addressed “To Whom It May Concern” and dated “5/18/67 — 9 a.m., ” stating that she had used heroin and narcotic stimulants “on and off” since 1959 and was currently addicted to barbiturates and amphetamines, and that in his opinion it would be in her best interests if she were…