Smith v. Superior Court

On March 5, 1965, petitioner, in propria persona, filed a document in this court entitled “Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus and a Jury Trial.” From this document it appears that petitioner in the respondent court had demanded, and had been refused, a jury trial on the issue of his then sanity. This court treated the document as a petition for a writ of mandate and issued an order to show cause why a peremptory writ should not issue directing the respondent court to conduct a hearing, before a jury, on the issue of petitioner’s present sanity.

The petition, and the return filed on behalf of the respondent court by the Attorney General, disclosed the following : On November 16, 1959, petitioner was committed to Atascadero State Hospital under the provisions of section 5100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and he has been at all times since then and now is confined therein as a mentally ill person. On January 21, 1965, petitioner filed, in the respondent court, a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which petition he alleged in substance that he had recovered from any and all mental illness and was entitled to his release from the state hospital. Hearing on such petition…