Conservatorship of Y.B. CA1/4

BACKGROUND

In February 2021, the Public Guardian filed a petition seeking reappointment as Y.B.’s LPS conservator, alleging that Y.B. remained gravely disabled and unable to provide for her own basic needs as a result of a mental health disorder. The Public Guardian recommended the imposition of special disabilities that would deny Y.B. the right to refuse or consent to treatment related to her grave disability, the right to enter into contracts without the knowledge and consent of the conservator, and the privilege of possessing a driver’s license, and would disqualify her from purchasing or possessing firearms or other deadly weapons. Y.B., through her appointed trial counsel, objected to the reappointment and requested a bench trial. The court advised Y.B. of her right to a jury trial and accepted her waiver of that right. It also ordered the petition merged with the February 2020 petition for reappointment, which had not been heard yet because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the bench trial, Dr. Michael Levin, a psychiatrist employed by Contra Costa County, including to conduct grave disability evaluations for the county’s conservator’s office, testified as an expert on behalf…