Court Opinion

ID: 9796595
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:00:35.808379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:50:38.741898
License: Public Domain

MORENO, J., Dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
“Both the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and state law prohibit the state from trying or convicting a *830criminal defendant while he or she is mentally incompetent. [Citations.]” (People v. Rogers (2006) 39 Cal.4th 826, 846 [48 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 141 P.3d 135].) An individual is mentally incompetent to stand trial “if, as a result of mental disorder or developmental disability, the defendant is unable to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings or to assist counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner.” (Pen. Code, § 1367, subd. (a), italics added.) This deeply embedded due process principle arises from a repugnance, both legal and moral, in forcing a criminal defendant into a trial that may result in substantial loss of liberty when the defendant is incapable of understanding the proceeding, or assisting in the defense. In my view, it is equally repugnant to force an individual to stand trial as a sexually violent predator (SVP) and face a potential lifetime term of civil commitment when that person lacks the competence to understand, or participate meaningfully in, the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA) proceeding. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq.; statutory cites are to this code unless otherwise designated.) I believe that this conclusion is compelled by our decision in People v. Allen (2008) 44 Cal.4th 843 [80 Cal.Rptr.3d 183, 187 P.3d 1018] (Alien).
The majority characterizes the right at issue as “an SVP’s right to delay or avoid targeted confinement and treatment for a sexually violent mental disorder because his mental problems make him incompetent to stand trial.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 820.) Such characterization assumes that SVP’s would assert claims of incompetence merely to delay or avoid commitment. Not so. The right at issue here is the due process right to be competent at an SVPA proceeding. Furthermore, the substantial safeguards in criminal cases against claims of incompetence made simply for purposes of delay would also apply in the SVPA context. For instance, as is true of criminal trials, the question of competency in SVPA proceedings would not be raised by the defendant' but by the court or the defendant’s attorney. (Pen. Code, § 1368.) Moreover, even when counsel expresses a doubt about competency, the trial court need only conduct a competency hearing when it “ ‘is presented with substantial evidence of incompetence, that is, evidence that raises a reasonable or bona fide doubt concerning the defendant’s competence to stand trial.’ ” (People v. Lewis (2008) 43 Cal.4th 415, 524 [75 Cal.Rptr.3d 588, 181 P.3d 947].) Additionally, as in criminal proceedings, an SVP’s competence would be evaluated by mental health professionals who can certainly assess whether an individual is malingering.
Along these same lines, I reject the majority’s speculation that recognizing the right to be competent at an SVPA proceeding would open the floodgates to incompetency claims. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 825-826.) Few individuals would be deemed incompetent to undergo SVPA trials. The reason is simple: *831All individuals in SVPA proceedings have been convicted of criminal offenses and were thus necessarily mentally competent at the time of the conviction. Thus, only those defendants who could demonstrate that they had become incompetent while serving their sentences could assert a competency claim.
As the majority acknowledges, Allen provides a four-part balancing test with which we determine what process is due SVP’s. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 819.) “ ‘(1) [T]he private interest that will be affected by the official action; (2) the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest though the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; (3) the government’s interest, including the function involved and the fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute procedural requirement would entail; and (4) the dignitary interest in informing individuals of the nature, grounds, and consequences of the action and in enabling them to present their side of the story before a responsible government official.’ ” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at pp. 862-863.)
The majority concedes that “[t]he liberty . . . interest^ affected by commitment under the SVPA . . . [is] no less significant here than in any other civil commitment case.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 824.) Having made this concession, however, the majority quickly minimizes the importance of the liberty interest. The majority is wrong. That interest is as significant, if not more significant here, than it was in Allen. It is worth pausing and reflecting upon what we said about that interest a little more than two years ago.
“We begin with the private interests at stake. As we noted in [People v.] Otto [(2001)] 26 Cal.4th 200 [109 Cal.Rptr.2d 327, 26 P.3d 1061], ‘the private interests that will be affected by [a finding that the defendant continues to be a sexually violent predator] are the significant limitations on [the defendant’s] liberty, the stigma of being classified as [a sexually violent predator], and subjection to unwanted treatment. [Citation.]’ (Id. at p. 210.) . . . ‘[T]he California Legislature has recognized that the interests involved in civil commitment proceedings are no less fundamental than those in criminal proceedings and that liberty is no less precious because forfeited in a civil proceeding than when taken as a consequence of a criminal conviction.’ (In re Gary W. (1971) 5 Cal.3d 296, 307 [96 Cal.Rptr. 1, 486 P.2d 1201] . . . .) Thus, the first factor weighs heavily in favor of providing all reasonable procedures to prevent the erroneous deprivation of liberty interests.” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at p. 863, fn. omitted.)
*832If those observations were true with respect to a defendant’s right to testify at his or her SVPA proceeding, they apply with even greater force to a defendant’s right to be competent at that proceeding. A defendant who is unable to understand the nature of the proceeding or to meaningfully assist counsel is subject to the same deprivation of liberty, the same stigma of being classified as an SVP and the same subjection to unwanted—and, because incompetent, ineffective—treatment.
Nor is it an answer, as the majority asserts, that competency is not required because “the nature of the issues, evidence, and findings in an SVP proceeding prevents any defendant from playing much more than a supporting role.” (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 824.) I find no support in Allen for such a global characterization of the defendant’s role in an SVPA proceeding.1 To the contrary, in discussing the importance of allowing a defendant to testify, even over the objection of defendant’s counsel, we observed: “[A]s has been recognized in cases in which a sexually violent predator has asserted the privilege against self-incrimination, the defendant’s participation in the proceedings, through pretrial interviews and testimony at trial, generally enhances the reliability of the outcome. Moreover, as observed in Otto, supra, 26 Cal.4th 200, if critical information, such as the details surrounding the commission of the predicate offenses, is questionable, ‘a significant portion of the foundation of the resulting [sexually violent predator] finding is suspect.’ (Otto, supra, 26 Cal.4th at pp. 210-211.) Because the testimony of a defendant typically will concern his or her conduct, this testimony may relate to information that is critical to the experts’ testimony. ... In some cases, the defendant’s testimony may raise a reasonable doubt concerning the facts underlying the experts’ opinions. Accordingly, in every case there exists a risk that allowing counsel to preclude the defendant from testifying will lead to an erroneous deprivation of rights. Guaranteeing the defendant a right to testify, *833even over counsel’s objection, will mitigate this risk.” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at pp. 865-866, fn. omitted, italics added.)
If, then, we recognized in Allen that a defendant’s testimony might be potentially game changing with respect to the liberty interest—and such testimony is but one aspect of the defendant’s potential participation in an SVPA proceeding—how much more vital is it that a defendant be competent during that proceeding not just to testify but to assist counsel in evaluating and responding to the state’s case against the defendant? The answer is clear: Forcing an incompetent defendant to undergo an SVPA trial will, in every such case, create a risk of depriving the defendant of his or her liberty interest. Thus, this factor weighs mightily in favor of recognizing a due process right to be competent during an SVPA trial.
The second Allen factor, which balances the risk of deprivation of the liberty interest under current procedures against the probable value of additional procedural safeguards, also weighs heavily in favor of recognizing a right to be competent in SVPA proceedings. As noted, an incompetent defendant is powerless to vindicate his or her liberty interests under the current procedural regime, which does not contain a process for guaranteeing competency. The majority uses this very lack of a safeguard as a reason to deny it. The majority argues that, because the SVPA is silent as to the issue of incompetency, no “relevant template” exists by which to process incompetent SVP defendants. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 829.) I strongly disagree. If a court cannot remedy a due process violation, then judicial power is for naught. It is well established that courts possess an inherent power to adopt procedures which promote due process rights in the face of statutory silence. (Citizens Utilities Co. v. Superior Court (1963) 59 Cal.2d 805, 812-813 [31 Cal.Rptr. 316, 382 P.2d 356] [it is “beyond dispute that ‘Courts have inherent power ... to adopt any suitable method of practice, both in ordinary actions and special proceedings, if the procedure is not specified by statute or by rules adopted by the Judicial Council’ ”].)
Most relevantly, in James H. v. Superior Court (1978) 77 Cal.App.3d 169 [143 Cal.Rptr. 398], the Court of Appeal held that “in the absence of any statutory procedure for so doing the juvenile court has the inherent power to determine a minor’s mental competence to understand the nature of [juvenile] proceedings . . . and to assist counsel in a rational manner at that hearing.” (Id. at p. 172.) The court in James H. relied on its “inherent powers to formulate procedures which have not yet attained legislative approval” {id. at p. 176) and referred the trial court to Penal Code section 1367. Here, too, Penal Code section 1367 et seq., provide an established framework for assessing incompetency and dealing with SVPA defendants who are found to be incompetent. I agree with the Court of Appeal that “this is an appropriate *834case for the exercise of [this court’s] inherent power to look to [Penal Code section 1367] in order to fill the gap in the SVPA, so as to enable the Act to function in a constitutional manner.”
The majority concedes that the dignitary interest—the fourth Allen factor— weighs in defendant’s favor in this case. Again, it is worth pausing to examine what that interest entails as we explained it in Allen. The central facets of the dignitary interest are (1) “ ‘informing individuals of the nature, grounds, and consequences of the action,’ ” and (2) “ ‘enabling them to present their side of the story before a responsible government official.’ ” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at pp. 862-863.) Of course, if a defendant is incompetent for the purposes of Penal Code section 1367—unable to understand the proceedings or to assist counsel—then, by definition, that individual cannot be informed of the nature, grounds and consequences of the proceeding. Nor would that individual have the capacity to present his or her side of the story. Again, it matters no more in the competency context than in the right to testify whether “a defendant generally can communicate his or her version to and through the experts and counsel and through other witnesses . . . .” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at p. 869.) In either case, denying a defendant the right to present his or her side of the story “relegate[s]” the defendant “to the role of a mere spectator, with no power to attempt to affect the outcome.” (Ibid.) Thus, compelling an incompetent defendant to endure an SVPA commitment proceeding thoroughly violates his dignitary interests.
Against these three factors that weigh in favor of a due process right to competency in SVPA proceedings, the majority cites the governmental interest—factor (3)—which it identifies as public safety. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 825.) According to the majority, “ ‘the strong [governmental] interest in protecting the public’ ” (ibid.) would be “substantially impaired” if courts recognized an SVP’s right to a competency determination (id. at pp. 825-826). This is true, the majority reasons, because SVP’s “present a substantial and credible risk that they will commit sexually violent predatory crimes if released.” (Id. at p. 825.)
It is, of course, true that protecting the public is the paramount aim of the SVPA but it is not true that recognizing an SVP’s right to be competent at an SVPA proceeding would result in the release of deranged sexual predators on a defenseless public. Rather, a defendant found to be incompetent would remain civilly committed in a secure facility while receiving treatment designed to restore competency and, once competency was restored, would then be subject to SVPA proceedings. The result: an unbroken internment, whereby the defendant would remain in custody while incompetent, or remain incarcerated as an SVP.
*835Indeed, civil conunitment to restore competency would precede, not replace, any targeted SVP treatment. No confined SVP would be released until after a jury had determined that he or she was no longer dangerous. Defendants never restored to competency would be confined indefinitely, and while the majority expresses a concern that doing so would enable defendants to avoid trial, it fails to explain how this indefinite commitment would endanger the public. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 825-826.) The majority erroneously frames this issue as a choice between recognizing the right to be competent during an SVPA proceeding and compromising public safety. In fact, the real choice here is between shuffling incompetent defendants through SVPA proceedings and treating them in a secure environment until competence is restored. Thus, contrary to the majority’s assertion, I do not find that the governmental interest in public safety outweighs the other three Allen factors that tip the scale toward recognizing a defendant’s due process right to be competent.
Finally, I strongly disagree with the theme that runs through the majority opinion conflating the disorders which render one an SVP and those which render one incompetent to stand trial. In a breathtaking example of ipse dixit reasoning the majority asserts—without a shred of scientific evidence or a legal authority—that we can “reasonably assume” that “significant potential overlap exists” between those mental health disorders that quality someone for commitment as an SVP and those rendering one incompetent to stand trial. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 825.)
This assertion is simply wrong as a matter of relevant statutory comparison. Under the SVPA, a defendant is deemed to be an SVP if the defendant 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).) A “diagnosed mental disorder” is defined as “a congenital or acquired condition affecting the emotional or volitional capacity that predisposes the person to the commission of criminal sexual acts in a degree constituting the person a menace to the health and safety of others.” (Id., subd. (c).) Thus, the mental disorders which render one an SVP relate to sexual aberrations that increase the likelihood one will engage in sexually violent criminal behavior. By contrast, under Penal Code section 1367, “[a] defendant is mentally incompetent... if, as a result of mental disorder or developmental disability, the defendant is unable to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings or to assist counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner.” (Pen. Code, § 1367, subd. (a).) The two definitions are not congruent. An individual can be a pedophile or a rapist and thus suffer a mental disorder for purposes of the SVPA while remaining perfectly competent to understand the nature of, and *836participate in, an SVPA proceeding.2 Accordingly, I reject as unsupported the assertion by the majority that substantial overlap exists between those mental disorders that qualify an individual as an SVP and those rendering an individual incompetent.
In short, it is my view that the majority, under the pretext of distinguishing Allen, eviscerates that opinion. Of course, it is true that Allen did not address the competency issue we consider here, but that does not render the due process analysis we set forth in Allen inapplicable here. To the contrary, compelling an incompetent defendant to submit to an SVPA hearing is, if anything, a more serious due process violation than denying a competent defendant the right to testify on his own behalf at such proceeding. Denying a defendant the right to testify over counsel’s objection implicates but one discrete aspect of the defendant’s overall defense. By comparison, forcing an incompetent defendant to endure an entire SVPA proceeding impacts virtually every aspect of the defense. Not only would defendants be robbed of the opportunity to testify in a competent manner, they would also be deprived of the ability to communicate meaningfully with their attorneys and with the court, and to confront adverse witnesses. A mentally incompetent defendant is unable to dispute facts, challenge admissible hearsay evidence or contradict erroneous factual assumptions used by expert witnesses—factors the Allen court found critical to ensuring the reliability of the proceedings.
By contrast, recognizing a right to be competent in SVPA proceedings would provide a safeguard against the unsavory prospect of subjecting individuals who are not SVP’s to SVPA confinement and treatment. Moreover, restoring to competence those who actually are SVP’s would avoid the “futile” exercise of attempting SVPA treatment on incompetent subjects. (See Abrams et al., The Case for a Threshold for Competency in Sexually Violent Predator Civil Commitment Proceedings (2007) 28 Am. J. Forensic Psychiatry 7, 22-23 [“[Attempting to [treat the] behaviors of an SVP that precipitate within the matrix of a florid psychosis or severe cognitive impairment would prove futile. . . . [Currently available treatments for SVPs find [their] provenance in rational, goal-directed, even insightful cognition.”].) Thus, contrary to the majority, no Pandora’s box would be opened by extending the right to competency to defendants in an SVPA proceeding. Rather, competent SVP’s who would benefit from treatment would receive it while those few *837deemed to be incompetent would be restored to competency so that the issue of their SVP status could be determined and, if they were found to be SVP’s, offered treatment.
For all these reasons, I must dissent.
Kennard, J., concurred.

Apparently, the majority’s characterization of the defendant’s role in an SVPA proceeding as “supporting” is based on the particular circumstance in Allen that Allen’s testimony would not have been particularly useful to him. But even in that circumstance, we rejected the argument that the “supporting role” status of a defendant is sufficient to overcome the risk of deprivation of the liberty interest. “Although ... we agree with the Court of Appeal that defendant’s testimony would not have assisted him in preserving his liberty interests in this case, here we seek to establish a rule of general application in proceedings under the SVPA. ‘[Procedural due process rules are shaped by the risk of error inherent in the truthfinding process as applied to the generality of cases, not the rare exceptions.’ (Matthews v. Eldridge (1976) 424 U.S. 319, 344 [47 L.Ed.2d 18, 96 S.Ct. 893].) Therefore, we consider generally whether allowing a defendant in a proceeding under the SVPA to testify over the objection of his or her counsel may aid the defendant in preventing the erroneous deprivation of liberty interests, rather than whether the right would aid the particular defendant before us.” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at p. 865.) A fortiori, an incompetent defendant, by definition, cannot play any role—whether starring or supporting—in preventing the erroneous deprivation of his liberty interests.

The majority suggests that in this case there is significant overlap between the mental disorders that qualify defendant as an SVP and those that affect his competence. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 825-826.) I have examined the submissions by the three experts who diagnosed defendant and I am not wholly persuaded that this characterization is correct, but even if it is, as was true in Allen, the due process right to be competent in an SVPA proceeding is “ ‘shaped by the risk of error inherent in the truthfinding process as applied to the generality of cases, not the rare exceptions.’ [Citation.]” (Allen, supra, 44 Cal.4th at p. 865.)