People v. Reynolds CA6

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2012 murder of a homeless woman. He stabbed the woman repeatedly while in a psychotic state, believing the woman was a witch who was going to steal his soul. Defendant was committed to Napa State Hospital in 2013, where he was treated for schizophrenia. In 2017, defendant petitioned the trial court for supervised outpatient status, which is a prerequisite to sanity being legally restored and requires a determination by the trial court that he is not “a danger to the health and safety of others, due to mental defect, disease, or disorder, if under supervision and treatment in the community.” (Pen. Code, § 1026.2, subd. (e).) The trial court made that determination following a hearing, and in May 2018 defendant was released from the state hospital to the Gateways Satellite Conditional Release Program in Southern California. In August 2018, he was transferred to the South Bay Conditional Release Program in San Jose (CONREP). In March 2019, the director of CONREP recommended that defendant’s outpatient status continue for another year. Defendant disagreed with the recommendation. Seeking an unconditional…