People v. Greene CA2/3

BACKGROUND

I. The Act

The Act “allows for the involuntary commitment of certain convicted sex offenders, whose diagnosed mental disorders make them likely to reoffend if released at the end of their prison terms.” (Cooley v. Superior Court (2002) 29 Cal.4th 228, 235.) A sexually violent predator (SVP) is “a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense against one or more victims and who has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person 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.” (§ 6600, subd. (a)(1).) Further, the offender’s future sexually violent criminal behavior must be “predatory” in nature (People v. Hurtado (2002) 28 Cal.4th 1179, 1186), meaning that it is “directed toward a stranger, a person of casual acquaintance with whom no substantial relationship exists, or an individual with whom a relationship has been established or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization.” (§ 6600, subd. (e).)

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 A person who is declared an SVP is committed to the SDSH for treatment. (§…