People v. Foster

447 P.3d 228, 251 Cal. Rptr. 3d 312, 7 Cal. 5th 1202
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 22, 2019
DocketS248046
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 447 P.3d 228 (People v. Foster) 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.

Bluebook
People v. Foster, 447 P.3d 228, 251 Cal. Rptr. 3d 312, 7 Cal. 5th 1202 (Cal. 2019).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by Liu, J.

*313*1205The Mentally Disordered Offender Act ( Pen. Code, § 2960 et seq. ) authorizes the Board of Parole Hearings to involuntarily commit individuals convicted of certain felony offenses for mental health treatment as a condition of parole. ( Pen. Code, § 2962 ; all undesignated statutory references are to this code.) Commitment as a mentally disordered offender (MDO) may continue even after an offender's parole term has expired, so long as the district attorney makes a showing that the MDO's mental disorder is not in remission **229and that the MDO, because of the disorder, represents a substantial danger of physical harm. (§§ 2970, 2972.)

In November 2014, California voters enacted Proposition 47, which reclassified certain drug and theft-related offenses from felonies (or wobblers) to misdemeanors. ( People v. Valencia (2017) 3 Cal.5th 347, 355, 220 Cal.Rptr.3d 230, 397 P.3d 936.) The initiative also authorizes individuals who have completed felony sentences affected by Proposition 47 to petition to redesignate the felony as a misdemeanor. (§ 1170.18, subd. (f).) Proposition 47 mandates that, with the exception of firearms restrictions, a redesignated conviction "shall be considered a misdemeanor for all purposes." (§ 1170.18, subd. (k) (section 1170.18(k)).)

*1206In 2016, defendant Jeremy John Foster successfully petitioned to have a felony grand theft conviction redesignated as a misdemeanor. Foster now argues that his commitment or recommitment as an MDO must be vacated because of the absence of a foundational felony.

We conclude that the applicable statutes do not afford Foster the relief he seeks. Under the MDO statute (§§ 2970, 2972), the redesignation of Foster's felony as a misdemeanor does not undermine the validity of his initial civil commitment, which was legally sound at the time the determination was made. Nor does the redesignation alter the criteria governing Foster's eligibility for recommitment as an MDO. Equal protection principles do not compel a different result. Accordingly, we affirm the Court of Appeal's judgment.

I.

On January 17, 2007, Foster entered a convenience store and grabbed merchandise from behind the counter. Foster falsely told the store clerk that he was a police officer and that he "can do what he wants." The clerk attempted to physically stop Foster; Foster pushed the clerk away and fled. Foster was arrested, and the merchandise was recovered at the scene.

Foster pleaded guilty to one count of felony grand theft. (§ 487, subd. (c).) The court sentenced Foster to 16 months in prison. On September 14, 2010, after Foster had completed his sentence, he was admitted to a state hospital as an MDO as a parole condition under section 2962. Foster's commitment was extended several times, and he was released to an outpatient conditional release program for further treatment on October 10, 2014. Since his initial commitment, Foster has been recommitted as an MDO annually under section 2966, subdivision (c) and under sections 2970 and 2972.

In 2016, after the voters approved Proposition 47, Foster successfully petitioned to have his felony conviction redesignated as a misdemeanor. Foster then moved to dismiss his recommitment as an MDO on the basis that the redesignation of his theft offense meant he no longer had a qualifying offense for his MDO recommitment. The trial court denied the motion.

The Court of Appeal affirmed. The court adopted the reasoning it set out in *314People v. Goodrich (2017) 7 Cal.App.5th 699, 709-711, 212 Cal.Rptr.3d 788, which rejected an identical argument. In Goodrich , the Court of Appeal concluded that Proposition 47 does not apply to retroactively invalidate a properly imposed MDO commitment or to invalidate subsequent recommitments. The Goodrich court, interpreting the criteria for recommitment set forth in section 2972, subdivision (c), reasoned that recommitment "is not *1207predicated upon [an individual's] felony conviction; rather, it is predicated on his current mental state and dangerousness." ( Goodrich , at p. 711, 212 Cal.Rptr.3d 788.) The Goodrich court further concluded that a challenge to an individual's initial commitment as an MDO through Proposition 47 would amount to inappropriate retroactive relief "for the collateral purpose of invalidating an initial MDO commitment long after it was properly imposed." ( Goodrich , at p. 711, 212 Cal.Rptr.3d 788.) Here, the Court of Appeal also rejected an equal protection claim premised on Foster's asserted similarity to individuals committed under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVP Act; Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq. ).

We granted review.

**230II.

"Enacted in 1985, the MDO Act requires that an offender who has been convicted of a specified felony related to a severe mental disorder and who continues to pose a danger to society receive appropriate treatment until the disorder can be kept in remission." ( People v. Harrison (2013) 57 Cal.4th 1211, 1218, 164 Cal.Rptr.3d 167, 312 P.3d 88 ( Harrison ).) The MDO Act provides for treatment at three stages of commitment: as a condition of parole ( § 2962 ), in conjunction with the extension of parole (§ 2966, subd. (c)), and following release from parole (§§ 2970, 2972). ( Lopez v. Superior Court (2010) 50 Cal.4th 1055, 1061-1062, 116 Cal.Rptr.3d 530

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
447 P.3d 228, 251 Cal. Rptr. 3d 312, 7 Cal. 5th 1202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-foster-cal-2019.