Roberge

Under California’s Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA), convicted sex offenders who have served their prison terms may be *982 involuntarily committed to a state mental hospital if found to be “sexually violent predator[s].” (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6604; further undesignated statutory references are to this code.) That finding is made after a trial (§ 6603), based on proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the person to be involuntarily committed meets the statutory definition of a sexually violent predator (§ 6604).

The SVPA defines a sexually violent predator as someone who “has been convicted of a sexually violent offense against two or more victims and who has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger to the health and safety of others in that it is likely that he or she will engage in sexually violent criminal behavior” if released. (§ 6600, subd. (a)(1), italics added.) At issue here is the meaning of the statutory term “likely” in section 6600, subdivision (a)’s definition of a sexually violent predator. That definition applies at trial, where the trier of fact decides whether the convicted sex offender, after serving the requisite prison term, is…