People v. Smith

BACKGROUND

A.

The Sexually Violent Predators Act (the Act; § 6600 et seq.) authorizes the involuntary, indefinite civil commitment of persons who have been convicted of certain sex offenses upon their release from prison. (People v. Smith (2020) 49 Cal.App.5th 445, 451 (Smith III).) To justify such commitment, the People must prove that the person “ ‘ (1) has been convicted of a sexually violent offense against at least one victim and (2) “has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes [him or her] 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.” ’ ” (Ibid.; §§ 6600, subd. (a)(1), 6604.)

The Act “was ‘designed to ensure that the committed person does not “remain confined any longer than he suffers from a mental abnormality rendering him unable to control his dangerousness.” ’ ” (People v. McKee (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1172, 1186 (McKee).) To that end, section 6604.9 requires that every committed person “shall have a current examination of his or her mental condition made at least once every year” and that the State Department of State Hospitals (department) file with the court a report by a professionally…