Filed 10/14/15 P. v. Adams CA2/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for 

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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

JAMES JON ADAMS,

Defendant and Appellant.

 B261641

 (Los Angeles County

 Super. Ct. No. GA051127)

THE COURT:*

James Jon Adams (defendant) appeals the decision of the Los Angeles County 

Superior Court denying his petition, filed under Penal Code section 1026.2,

1

to declare 

his sanity restored. Appellant has, via appointed counsel, filed a brief asking this court to 

conduct an independent review of the record, i.e., a review similar to that required 

pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende), and determine if there are 

any issues in the record deserving of further briefing. Defendant has also personally filed 

a brief asking this court to reverse the trial court’s order denying his petition. We have 

reviewed the briefs and the record in the trial court. Based on that review, we affirm the 

trial court’s order.

 

*

BOREN, P.J., ASHMANN-GERST, J., HOFFSTADT, J.

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.
2

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant and L.H. graduated from the same high school in 1984 but were not 

acquainted. Following their 10-year high school reunion in 1994, defendant wrote 

several letters to L.H., some of which he dropped off at her church. Some of the letters 

expressed his love for L.H., while others asserted that L.H’s father was having an affair 

with defendant’s ex-wife, and accused L.H. and others of plotting to take away 

defendant’s children. Defendant also made numerous phone calls to L.H.’s home and left 

threatening voice messages. L.H. reported the letters and calls to the police. Between 

1994 and 2002 she moved three times but defendant was able to obtain her new phone 

number and address each time. 

In late 2002, defendant called L.H.’s home and asked where his children were. 

One day he showed up at the home and was told to leave by L.H.’s husband. At 

3:00 a.m. the following day he broke into L.H.’s home, went to her bedroom, and 

charged towards her and her husband. A struggle ensued and he was forced out of the 

home. Defendant was standing on the street in front of the home yelling loudly when he 

was arrested by the police.

Defendant, then 36 years old, was convicted of two counts of assault by means 

likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)), burglary (§ 459), and stalking 

(§ 646.9, subd. (a)). Defendant raised a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. He 

introduced evidence that, prior to the charged incidents, he had been hospitalized due to 

violent behavior related to delusional beliefs on four occasions: In 1995 he struck his 

mother; in 1998 he entered his doctor’s office with a knife; in 1999 he threatened harm to 

his father and fought with police officers; and in 2002, after he stopped taking his 

medication, he was described as ‘“combative and difficult to handle”’ when found living 

in the woods. The jury credited this evidence and found defendant not guilty by reason 

of insanity. The trial court committed defendant to Patton State Hospital pursuant to 

section 1026 for a term not to exceed 17 years, 4 months. 
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By 2009, defendant was participating in outpatient treatment through the 

Gateways Community Conditional Release Program (CONREP).

On October 25, 2011, he filed an application in superior court for restoration of 

sanity pursuant to section 1026.2. Defendant waived his statutory right to a jury trial and 

a court trial took place on December 18th and 19th, 2014. 

Defendant called two witnesses. He called Dr. Kory Knapke (Knapke), a forensic 

psychiatrist who had examined defendant a total of five times. In 2009, Knapke found 

that defendant’s symptoms were in remission. In a report dated May 7, 2012, Knapke 

concluded that defendant had been restored to sanity. Knapke examined defendant a 

third time on April 4, 2013; on this occasion, Knapke reached the conclusion that 

defendant’s sanity had not been restored because defendant told him that the delusions 

defendant experienced at the time of the October 2002 crimes involving victim, his exwife, and a relationship between his ex-wife and victim’s father were based in reality. At 

that time, Knapke opined, defendant did not appear to be able to “differentiate delusion 

from reality.” In response to the court’s inquiries, Knapke testified that it was not clear 

what caused defendant’s “decrease in his insight about his illness.” Knapke also testified 

that defendant was compliant with his medications during this period, and acknowledged 

that not being able to identify the particular stressor that caused defendant’s lapse could 

be “risky” in terms of looking to the future and considering restoration of sanity. In his 

final two evaluations of defendant—on April 22, 2014, and December 17, 2014, (the day 

before the restoration of sanity hearing)—Knapke found that defendant had been restored 

to sanity. 

Defendant testified. He acknowledged that he had a mental illness–schizophrenia 

paranoid type–for which he takes daily medication. He was aware of the symptoms of 

his illness, the triggers that caused them, and how to deal with the symptoms. He had no 

desire to contact the victim of his stalking behavior; described his living arrangements if 

released; and recounted his intention to continue to seek therapy.
4

The People called Dr. Bentley Hess (Hess), a CONREP outpatient therapist. Hess 

worked with defendant for the six months prior to the hearing. She testified that 

defendant had made progress but still became argumentative and defensive as recently as 

a week ago when discussing his delusions. Hess was concerned that defendant had 

recently told hospital staff that he had difficulty accepting his mental illness; had not been 

engaging in treatment; was having difficulty in deciphering between his delusional 

beliefs and reality; desired to lower his medication; and tended to minimize past events 

that led to either his arrests or hospitalizations.

During its examination of Knapke, the People also elicited evidence that Dr. Mark 

Jaffe (Jaffe), a court-appointed doctor, had examined defendant in October 2012. Jaffe 

had found defendant had not been restored to sanity and still had active symptoms of 

mental illness and still had the same delusional beliefs and paranoia that contributed to 

his committing offenses. 

The court denied defendant’s application, concluding that defendant had failed to 

meet his burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence. The court was concerned 

because it had not been provided with any explanation for what caused Knapke to change 

his opinion in 2013. The court was looking for an explanation that would give it a 

“comfort level” that those issues had been addressed, and that it did not need to be 

concerned that defendant would present a threat to the community.

Defendant filed a timely appeal and we appointed counsel to represent defendant 

on appeal. 

DISCUSSION

As a threshold matter, we must decide whether to conduct a Wende review in this 

case. Wende mandates that the Court of Appeal conduct an independent review of the 

record for error on appeal of a criminal conviction. (Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d at 

pp. 441–442.) Our Supreme Court has held that no such review is required on appeal of 

the creation of a conservatorship under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Welf. & Inst. 

Code, § 5000 et seq.). (Conservatorship of Ben C. (2007) 40 Cal.4th 529, 535 (Ben C.).) 
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Our sister appellate courts have extended Ben C. to appeals of other types of civil 

commitment, including appeals, like this one, from the denial of a sanity restoration 

hearing. (People v. Taylor (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 304, 308 [no Wende review for 

mentally disordered offender proceedings]; People v. Dobson (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 

1422, 1436 [no Wende review of sanity restoration determinations].) Because Ben C.

deals with a different type of commitment and because we are persuaded that our review 

of the record appropriately recognizes the importance of the liberty interests at stake, we 

elect to conduct Wende review in this case.

A. Legal Standards

Section 1026.2 provides that a person who has been committed to a state hospital 

after being found not guilty by reason of insanity (see § 1026), may apply to the superior 

court for release on the ground that his or her sanity has been restored. Section 1026.2, 

subdivision (e) establishes a two-step procedure for such an application. The first step is 

to determine if the person may be placed in an outpatient program for one year. This first 

step is not involved in defendant’s application, because he has been in an outpatient 

program under supervision of CONREP since 2009. (§ 1026.2, subd. (f).)

In the second step of section 1026.2, subdivision (e), the court “shall have a trial to 

determine if sanity has been restored, which means the applicant is no longer a danger to 

the health and safety of others, due to mental defect, disease, or disorder.” The 

defendant-applicant bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence and is 

entitled to have the matter determined by a jury. (§ 1026.2, subd. (k); In re Franklin

(1972) 7 Cal.3d 126, 148 (Franklin) [interpreting then section 1026a predecessor to 

section 1026.2].) In order to be restored to sanity, defendant needs to show that he is not 

likely to cause injury or pain or expose himself or others to injury. (Franklin, at 

p. 145; People v. Williams (1988) 198 Cal.App.3d 1476, 1480.)

B. Standard of Review

Because we are reviewing the trial court’s determination that the defendant did not 

carry his burden to prove his sanity and dangerousness by a preponderance of the 
6

evidence (§ 1026.2, subd. (k); Franklin, supra, 7 Cal.3d at p. 148; People v. Mapp (1983) 

150 Cal.App.3d 346, 351 [recognizing “inherently civil nature of a section 1026.2 

proceeding”]), we will review this determination—like any other determination by a fact

finder—for substantial evidence. (See People v. Rasmuson (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 

1487, 1504 [“[T]he substantial evidence standard is . . . used in reviewing any disputed 

factual question, whether it arises at trial or otherwise”]; Winograd v. American 

Broadcasting Co. (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 624, 632 [“When the trial court has resolved a 

disputed factual issue, the appellate courts review the ruling according to the substantial 

evidence rule. If the trial court’s resolution of the factual issue is supported by 

substantial evidence, it must be affirmed”].)

C. The Contentions in Defendant’s Supplemental Brief Lack Merit

In his supplemental brief, defendant makes three arguments as to why the trial 

court erred in denying his section 1026.2 petition.

First, defendant argues that the verdict was “not supported by a preponderance of 

the evidence.” In this regard, he levels three criticisms. To begin, he urges that we 

disregard Hess’s testimony because CONREP never recommends patients for release. 

We decline to do so. In this case, Hess’s testimony did not reflect any across-the-board 

policy; to the contrary, Hess provided a detailed explanation for her opinion—namely, 

that defendant was argumentative, was defensive, minimized the severity of his past 

transgressions, was not engaging in treatment, and had difficulty accepting his mental 

illness as recently as a few weeks prior to the court trial.

Further, he argues that the number of medical reports in his favor outnumber the 

number against him. But this argument puts the quantity of favorable reports over their 

content. Relatedly, defendant asserts that the trial court’s ruling is infirm because his 

counsel did not introduce the opinion of Dr. Sanjay M. Sahgal (Sahgal), who concluded 

that defendant was restored to sanity on May 2, 2013 (approximately three weeks after 
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Knapke’s unfavorable report) and on March 12, 2014.2 However, Sahgal’s additional 

reports would not have altered the court’s determination. The court rested its ruling in 

large measure upon its concern that defendant’s change in sanity—noted by Knapke in 

2013—was never explained and thus could suggest a further risk of relapse or danger. 

This concern was not sufficiently addressed by the only person who could do so—

Knapke. Neither Sahgal report would have allayed this concern.

Second, defendant contends his due process and/or speedy trial rights were 

violated because the sanity restoration trial was continued indefinitely. Defendant 

presents no argument. Even if we assume that speedy trial protections apply in this 

context, any due process or speedy trial claim would, as a threshold matter, be premised 

upon a showing of prejudice due to the delay. (People v. DePriest (2007) 42 Cal.4th 1, 

26.)

The record indicates that defendant filed his section 1026.2 petition in 

October 2011. The court received favorable reports from Sahgal (Jan. 27, 2012) and 

Knapke (May 7, 2012), followed by unfavorable reports from Jaffe (Dec. 30, 2012) and 

Knapke (Apr. 11, 2013), and finally two additional favorable reports from Knapke 

(Apr. 29, 2014, and Dec. 17, 2014). Except on two occasions,3the minute orders during 

that entire period do not disclose the reason for the numerous continuances that occurred, 

and defendant presents no argument on this issue. Because we cannot presume prejudice, 

and defendant has not independently established any, his speedy trial/due process claim 

fails. (People v. Fernandez (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 117, 131.) Defendant has suffered no 

actual prejudice in any event because an earlier trial would have simply precluded 

defendant from being able to offer the later, favorable reports from Knapke. 

 

2 Defendant provided us with Sahgal’s 2014 report, but was unable to produce any 

report from 2013.

3 On April 10, 2014, the matter was continued at the request of the defense, and on 

September 11, 2014, the matter was continued at the request of CONREP.
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Lastly, defendant contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, that 

his counsel’s ineffectiveness was the reason the petition was denied, and that he is 

entitled to a new trial with new counsel. (See Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 

668, 687 (Strickland).) Strickland requires a showing that, but for counsel’s deficient 

performance, it is reasonably probable that the outcome of the proceeding would be 

different. (Ibid.) 

Defendant raises three claims of ineffectiveness, all of which fail under Strickland. 

He argues that his counsel erred in not introducing the favorable Sahgal reports, but it is 

not reasonably probable that their admission would have lead to a different result 

because, as noted above, they did not address the trial court’s primary reason for denying 

defendant’s petition. Defendant asserts that his counsel failed to exclude Hess from the 

courtroom during defendant’s testimony and failed to cross-examine the witnesses 

properly, but our review of the transcripts shows no inadequate performance by 

defendant’s counsel in either direct examination of defendant and Knapke, or competent 

cross-examination of the state’s expert witness, Hess.

DISPOSITION

The trial court’s order denying defendant’s petition is affirmed.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.