Opinion ID: 792246
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Carty's Underlying Criminal Offenses and Subsequent Civil Commitment as an SVP

Text: 16 In April 1991, Carty entered into a plea agreement on seven counts of Committing a Lewd and Lascivious Act Upon a Child Under the Age of 14, in violation of California Penal Code section 288(a). Carty admitted that two of the offenses involved sexual contact against his sons. Carty's guilty plea on the remaining five counts was entered pursuant to People v. West, 3 Cal.3d 595, 91 Cal.Rptr. 385, 477 P.2d 409 (1970). This meant that Carty did not admit the specific details about his conduct on the remaining five counts when he pled guilty. See In re Alvernaz, 2 Cal.4th 924, 8 Cal.Rptr.2d 713, 718, 830 P.2d 747 (1992) (stating that a plea proffered under People v. West is a plea of nolo contendere that does not admit a factual basis for the plea). After Carty entered his guilty plea, a probation report was prepared. The probation report relied on and summarized police reports that contained statements from the victims and their parents. Carty was sentenced to sixteen years in state prison. 17 In April 1999, one day before Carty was to be released on parole, the San Diego County District Attorney filed a petition with the San Diego Superior Court to have Carty civilly committed for a period of two years under the SVP Act. To civilly commit Carty as an SVP, the District Attorney needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that: (1) Carty had two predicate crimes involving substantial sexual conduct; 2 (2) Carty had a mental disorder which made him a danger to others; and (3) Carty was likely to re-offend on account of his mental disorder. See Cal. Welf. & Inst.Code §§ 6600(a)(1), 6604. 18 On April 30, 1999, Carty appeared before the superior court and waived his right to a probable cause hearing. The superior court scheduled another hearing for June 23, 1999, and ordered Carty to be returned to custody. When Carty returned to the superior court, he waived his right to a jury trial. 19 On June 24, 1999, a civil commitment hearing was held before Superior Court Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund to determine whether Carty was an SVP who required civil commitment. No witnesses were called, and the case was decided by the superior court judge solely on documentary evidence. Carty's counsel did not object to admission of the reports prepared by the State's mental health experts as evidence that Carty had two predicate crimes involving substantial sexual conduct (the second element) and that Carty had a mental disorder that made him a danger to others (the third element). Carty's counsel, however, contested the admission of the probation report as proof that Carty's conduct in two of his West offenses involved substantial sexual conduct (the first element). Carty objected to the use of the probation report because he contended that it contained inadmissible hearsay. 20 Notwithstanding Carty's objections, the superior court judge admitted the probation report into evidence. The probation report provided the crucial evidence for the state court to conclude that Carty's acts in two of his West offenses amounted to substantial sexual conduct. On the basis of this finding, the superior court ruled that Carty was an SVP and ordered him to be civilly committed for two years. Carty appealed his two-year civil commitment first to the California Court of Appeal, and then to the California Supreme Court.