Briggs

*314 Opinion

Introduction

In a proceeding to commit Gary Briggs as a sexually violent predator pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600 et seq., the People filed an affidavit of prejudice under Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 to disqualify Judge Harold E. Shabo. The affidavit was not timely filed, because Judge Shabo had already conducted hearings on Briggs’s motion to exclude evidence. Nevertheless, Judge Shabo purported to “waive the timeliness” and he disqualified himself. Briggs petitioned this court for a writ of mandate to compel Judge Shabo to deny the People’s disqualification motion. We issued an order to show cause. We now issue the writ as requested because the Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 motion should have been denied as untimely, and the record does not support Judge Shabo’s self-disqualification on alternative grounds described in Code of Civil Procedure section 170.1, subdivision (a)(6).

Factual Background

In December 1998 the People filed a petition to commit Briggs as a sexually violent predator. That petition alleged pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code sections 6600 and 6601 that Briggs had been convicted of designated…