People v. Bonneville

California Supreme Court

People v. Bonneville

535 P.2d 404, 14 Cal. 3d 384, 121 Cal. Rptr. 540, 1975 Cal. LEXIS 289

CourtCalifornia Supreme Court

DecidedMay 15, 1975

DocketCrim. 16777

StatusPublished

Cited by3 cases

This text of 535 P.2d 404 (People v. Bonneville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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People v. Bonneville, 535 P.2d 404, 14 Cal. 3d 384, 121 Cal. Rptr. 540, 1975 Cal. LEXIS 289 (Cal. 1975).

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Opinion

MOSK, J.

This is a companion case to People v. Burnick, ante, page 306 [121 Cal.Rptr. 488, 535 P.2d 352], and People v. Feagley, ante, page 338 [121 Cal.Rptr. 509, 535 P.2d 373].

Following his conviction of violating Penal Code section 647a (annoying or molesting a person under the age of 18), proceedings were instituted to determine if defendant Bonneville was a mentally disordered sex offender. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6300 et seq.) The court found he was such an offender but was not amenable to treatment in a state hospital. At an ensuing jury trial Bonneville was found to be a mentally disordered sex offender by a preponderance of the evidence and a 10-to-2 vote. The court thereupon committed him for an indefinite period to the Department of Mental Hygiene for confinement in an “institutional unit” under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code sections 6316 and 6326, [386]*386and directed that he be delivered initially into the custody of the superintendent of the California Medical Facility at Vacaville. He appeals from that order. (Pen. Code, § 1237, subd. l.)¹

Through his counsel Bonneville contends he was denied due process and equal protection of the laws in that the jury was permitted to find him to be a mentally disordered sex offender by a mere preponderance of the evidence and by a less than unanimous verdict. These same contentions are raised in the Burnick and Feagley cases, and for the reasons there explained they are meritorious.

In the circumstances we need not reach certain contentions raised by Bonneville in propria persona.

The order appealed from is reversed.

Wright, C. J., Tobriner, J., and Sullivan, J., concurred.

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Opinion

MOSK, J.

This is a companion case to People v. Burnick, ante, page 306 [121 Cal.Rptr. 488, 535 P.2d 352], and People v. Feagley, ante, page 338 [121 Cal.Rptr. 509, 535 P.2d 373].

Following his conviction of violating Penal Code section 647a (annoying or molesting a person under the age of 18), proceedings were instituted to determine if defendant Bonneville was a mentally disordered sex offender. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6300 et seq.) The court found he was such an offender but was not amenable to treatment in a state hospital. At an ensuing jury trial Bonneville was found to be a mentally disordered sex offender by a preponderance of the evidence and a 10-to-2 vote. The court thereupon committed him for an indefinite period to the Department of Mental Hygiene for confinement in an “institutional unit” under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code sections 6316 and 6326, [386]*386and directed that he be delivered initially into the custody of the superintendent of the California Medical Facility at Vacaville. He appeals from that order. (Pen. Code, § 1237, subd. l.)¹

Through his counsel Bonneville contends he was denied due process and equal protection of the laws in that the jury was permitted to find him to be a mentally disordered sex offender by a mere preponderance of the evidence and by a less than unanimous verdict. These same contentions are raised in the Burnick and Feagley cases, and for the reasons there explained they are meritorious.

In the circumstances we need not reach certain contentions raised by Bonneville in propria persona.

The order appealed from is reversed.

Wright, C. J., Tobriner, J., and Sullivan, J., concurred.

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535 P.2d 404, 14 Cal. 3d 384, 121 Cal. Rptr. 540, 1975 Cal. LEXIS 289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bonneville-cal-1975.

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