Yartz

We must decide whether a 1978 conviction based on a nolo contendere, or no contest, plea may serve as a predicate prior conviction in a civil commitment proceeding under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA or Act). (Welf. & Inst. Code, 1 § 6600 et seq.) Before its 1982 amendment, Penal Code section 1016, former subdivision (3), provided that a defendant’s nolo contendere plea “may not be used against the defendant as an admission in any civil suit based upon or growing out of the act upon which the criminal prosecution is based.” (Stats. 1976, ch. 1088, § 1, p. 4931.) The issue is whether an SVPA proceeding is a “civil suit” for purposes of this former subdivision.

For reasons that follow, we conclude that an SVPA civil commitment proceeding is a special proceeding of a civil nature, and not a “civil suit” under Penal Code section 1016, former subdivision (3). As such, defendant Norman Yartz’s 1978 conviction for child molestation may be used as a predicate prior conviction to support his SVPA civil commitment. (§ 6600, subd. (a)(1).)

*533 Thus, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which held to the contrary.

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1978,…

Before it was amended in 1982, Penal Code section 1016, subdivision (3) (section 1016, former subdivision (3)), stated that a no contest plea “may not be used against the defendant as an admission in any civil suit based upon or growing out of the act upon which the criminal prosecution is based.” (Stats. 1976, ch. 1088, § 1, p. 4931.) As the majority construes it, section 1016, former subdivision (3), does not bar use of a 1978 conviction based on a no contest plea as a predicate prior conviction in a proceeding under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA) (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.). Because the majority’s interpretation of section 1016, former subdivision (3), is irreconcilable with a decision of this court—Cartwright v. Board of Chiropractic Examiners (1976) 16 Cal.3d 762 [ 129 Cal.Rptr. 462 , 548 P.2d 1134 ] (Cartwright)—that was controlling precedent when defendant entered his no contest plea, and on which defendant was entitled to rely, I dissent.

The majority reasons that “civil suit” means the same thing as “civil action,” that the term “civil action” has a technical legal meaning under the Code of Civil Procedure, and that the Legislature intended the term…