People v. J.T. CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 21, 2020
DocketE073834
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. J.T. CA4/2 (People v. J.T. CA4/2) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. J.T. CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Filed 10/21/20 P. v. J.T. CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E073834

v. (Super.Ct.No. RIF1203670)

J.T., OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Jeffrey Prevost, Judge.

Affirmed.

Barbara A. Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Pulos, Seth M. Friedman

and Britton B. Lacy, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant and appellant J.T. appeals from the August 1, 2019 order extending his

commitment as a mentally disordered offender (MDO) pursuant to Penal Code section 1 2970. He contends the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to sustain the

petition. We affirm.

I.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL HISTORY

A. Procedural History and Defendant’s Criminal Background

In September 2006, defendant was stopped by police officers while walking down

a public street in Riverside with a .357 rifle. Defendant put the rifle down after multiple

officers responded. He told an officer he had used methamphetamine three days earlier

and had drank alcohol that day. He pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.

(Pen. Code, former § 12021, subd. (a)(1).) He was later committed to the California

Department of State Hospitals as an MDO and treated at Atascadero State Hospital

(Atascadero) from May 2007 to January 2009 when he was released back into the

community.

In May 2012, defendant assaulted L.J. with a pipe. L.J. was at her friend K.B.’s

house in Riverside. Defendant, who L.J. had never met before, was inside the house with

K.B.’s 11-year-old goddaughter and her friend. One of the girls told L.J. that defendant

asked them to watch pornography with him. L.J. and K.B. asked defendant to leave.

Defendant refused, and an argument ensued. Defendant called L.J. a “bitch” and a “cunt”

and swung a metal pipe at her head. L.J. put up her arm to protect herself, and the pipe

struck her left hand. Defendant pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon in

July 2013. (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1).) He served his sentence at Valley State

Prison.

2 In January 2014, while housed in Valley State Prison, defendant assaulted fellow

inmate F.G. by biting off the tip of his nose. Defendant shared a cell with six or eight

other inmates at the time. A correctional officer responded to a fight inside the cell and

found F.G. standing near the door with a bloody towel over his nose and defendant sitting

on a bunk breathing heavily. Defendant had blood on his lips and teeth. None of the

other inmates in the cell had blood on them. F.G. was taken to the hospital, but they were

not able to reattach the tip of his nose. Charges related to this incident were filed in

Madera County.

In 2015, defendant was admitted to Atascadero under a dual commitment as an

MDO on the 2012 assault of L.J. and as incompetent to stand trial on the 2014 assault of

F.G. Between 2015 and 2018, defendant went back and forth between Atascadero and

the Madera County Jail at least twice as his competency to stand trial was established and

then deteriorated again.

During this period, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office filed a petition

under Penal Code section 2970 to continue defendant’s involuntary treatment as an MDO

for another year. Defendant admitted the petition in November 2017, and the trial court

extended his commitment to March 2019.

In October 2018, defendant pleaded guilty in the Madera County case to

misdemeanor assault of F.G. by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury. (Pen.

Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4).) He returned to Atascadero in November 2018 for continued

treatment as an MDO.

3 In January 2019, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office initiated the

proceedings below by filing a petition under Penal Code section 2970 to continue

defendant’s involuntary treatment as an MDO for another year. The first trial on the

petition resulted in a hung jury. The second trial resulted in a true finding.

On August 1, 2019, the trial court issued an order extending defendant’s

commitment as an MDO to March 14, 2020. Defendant timely filed a notice of appeal.

On April 8, 2020, while the appeal was pending, the trial court extended

defendant’s commitment as an MDO to March 14, 2021, following a stipulation by the

parties to extend the commitment for another year. We granted respondent’s request for

judicial notice of the commitment order and of the relevant minute orders from the

superior court file, dated April 8, 2020 and May 19, 2020, that reflect the trial court’s

commitment order. (Evid. Code, §§ 452, subd. (d)(1), 459.)

B. Trial Testimony Related to Defendant’s Mental Health Condition

Alejandro Perez

Psychiatrist Alejandro Perez treated defendant at Atascadero from November 2018

through January 2019. He diagnosed defendant with schizophrenia, antisocial personality

disorder, and substance abuse disorders. His primary diagnosis was schizophrenia, which

is a brain disease that cannot be cured, but can be managed by medication. Its symptoms

include delusional thoughts, hallucinations, paranoid ideation, and disorganized speaking

and behaviors.

4 When defendant arrived at Atascadero in November 2018, he was taking the

antipsychotic medication Geodon to treat his schizophrenia. Perez increased the dose

defendant was taking from 40 milligrams a day to 80 milligrams a day. Then in January

2019, he increased the dose to 120 milligrams a day. Despite the increases, defendant

continued to have a persistent systematized delusional belief system that signified that he

was not in remission.

Perez spoke with defendant about his prior convictions. With regard to the 2012

assault of L.J., defendant told Perez he was protecting himself from witches who were

after him. He said the witches were trying to have sex with him and cut up his body so

they could extract his inner light, which was a special power that allowed defendant to

control fire and create explosions. Defendant also told Perez that while he was housed in

the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) inmates tried to kill

him to remove his inner light. He responded violently to protect himself. In both

situations, defendant felt he was in genuine danger and that he had responded

appropriately.

Defendant also told Perez about a program in Riverside that was trying to locate

him to liquify his limbs, and that there have been many women throughout his life who

have tried to have sex with him to remove parts of his body. Defendant also said he had

seen demons. He described hearing voices and seeing cat eyes stare at him, although he

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People v. J.T. CA4/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-jt-ca42-calctapp-2020.