Koper v. K.W. (In re K.W.)

221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1274
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 3, 2017
DocketA148614
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622 (Koper v. K.W. (In re K.W.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Koper v. K.W. (In re K.W.), 221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1274 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

BRUINIERS, J.

*1277The Sonoma County Public Conservator (Conservator) petitioned under the provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) ( Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5000 et seq. )1 for appointment as conservator of the person for appellant K.W. The petition alleged K.W. was gravely disabled due to a mental disorder, unable to provide for his basic needs for food, clothing, or shelter, and incapable of accepting treatment voluntarily. After a May 2015 hearing, the *626court granted the petition for an initial one-year term.

The Conservator petitioned for reappointment in April 2016, alleging K.W. remained gravely disabled and unable to care for his own needs. K.W. demanded a jury trial. The jury found him gravely disabled due *1278to mental disorder, and the court reappointed the Conservator for an additional one-year term.2 K.W. challenges the continued conservatorship, contending that the trial court erred in permitting the jury to consider case-specific hearsay testimony from an expert witness. We find any error to be harmless and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

K.W.'s LPS conservatorship was established following a contested bench trial in May 2015. Psychiatrist Gary Bravo, M.D., testified he had diagnosed K.W. with a bipolar schizoaffective disorder and opined that K.W. had severe problems with impulse control, had a denial of his illness and need for medications, and could not independently provide for his food, clothing and shelter because of his illness. The court found K.W. to be gravely disabled and appointed the Conservator for a one-year term.3

The Conservator petitioned for reappointment (§ 5361) in April 2016. K.W. requested a jury trial, which commenced and concluded on May 31, 2016. Bravo, who was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, testified as an expert in forensic psychiatry. He served as a consulting member of K.W.'s treatment team, and consulted about appropriate placements and services for K.W. As part of his pretrial evaluation of K.W., Bravo conducted a 50-minute face-to-face interview with K.W. Bravo also had interviewed K.W. in connection with prior conservatorship evaluations and was "pretty familiar" with him. Bravo personally observed K.W. when he was a patient at the county's psychiatric emergency facilities. In addition to personal observations, Bravo relied on medical records from the Sonoma County Behavioral Health Department, and medical records from the locked Santa Cruz facility (7th Avenue Center) where K.W. was receiving treatment. Bravo also spoke to K.W.'s former outpatient psychiatrist, and with a social worker acting as a liaison for patients at the 7th Avenue Center.

In addition to his own observations, Bravo testified concerning "information about [K.W.'s] past and his functioning in other settings" provided by *1279"other people." This information, obtained from historical reports and medical records, included allegations that K.W. was evicted from a room and board facility for causing a fire by leaving cooking items on a hot stove; spent money recklessly; engaged in altercations with others by insulting or provoking them, resulting in his expulsion from a psychiatric facility; and inappropriately touched female residents at a psychiatric facility where he had been confined. *627Bravo diagnosed K.W. as suffering from a schizoaffective disorder and identified his "main symptoms" as "disorganized thinking and behaviors" resulting in lack of impulse control, impaired judgment, and "paranoid and grandiose" delusions. Bravo said the delusions caused K.W. to "think his capabilities are better than they actually are...." Bravo opined that K.W. lacked insight into his mental illness and the impact of that illness on his behaviors and ability to provide for himself. While K.W. exhibited better insight than in the past, Bravo said K.W. "still has a way to go in the realm of insight." Bravo opined that K.W. met the criteria for grave disability criteria established in the LPS Act and was unable to care for himself. In Bravo's opinion, K.W. would return to San Francisco or Los Angeles if not conserved, and he would become homeless and, eventually, return to a psychiatric facility or jail.

K.W. testified and acknowledged he suffered from schizoaffective and bipolar disorders, as well as diabetes. He identified his prescribed medications and said he would continue to take them if released. He denied refusing medication while hospitalized. If released, K.W. said he would seek emergency psychiatric care if necessary. He had $3,000 in a personal bank account and received $890 each month in Supplemental Security Income, which was managed by a designated representative payee. K.W. said he knew how to cook, named grocery stores where he would do his food shopping, knew of a free soup kitchen and "pantries in the neighborhood that offer gourmet, free bags of groceries" if he were to run out of money. He had adequate clothing but would go to Goodwill for clothing if necessary. K.W. said he would be able to live with friends or at a shelter or "easily rent an apartment on their Section 8 housing list that I'm on, or stay at Redwood Gospel for a night." When asked if he could take care of himself, K.W. insisted: "I have ever since I left my parents' home in '86. It's very simple for me. It's not a complicated issue. I have done very well."

K.W. was examined about an incident in which he "jumped out of [a] van" while being transported in San Francisco. K.W. said he was "just visiting" a friend. He initially denied having a criminal record but then admitted a *1280"domestic incident" involving his brother. He admitted to an April 2016 altercation at the 7th Avenue Center. K.W. said he had been struck by another person, but denied hitting back, saying he only put his fist up "[i]n defiance" and "[i]n protest." Asked if he made comments that tended to incite other people, K.W. maintained he "might comment on what they are doing or how I perceive they're doing it wrong or a small, constructive criticism." He insisted he would not hit anyone if released from conservatorship.

The jury found K.W. was gravely disabled due to a mental disorder. Based on that finding, the court ordered reestablishment of the conservatorship.

II. DISCUSSION

Under the LPS Act, a conservator may be appointed "for a person who is gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder...." (§ 5350.) " 'Gravely disabled' " is defined as, inter alia, "[a] condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is unable to provide for his or her basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter." (§ 5008, subd. (h)(1)(A).) Under section 5350, subdivision (e)(1), "a person is not 'gravely disabled' if that person can survive safely without involuntary detention with the help of responsible family, friends, or others who are both willing and able to help provide for the person's basic personal needs for food, *628

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
221 Cal. Rptr. 3d 622, 13 Cal. App. 5th 1274, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/koper-v-kw-in-re-kw-calctapp5d-2017.