People v. Yates

235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 756, 25 Cal. App. 5th 474
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJuly 23, 2018
DocketB279863
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 756 (People v. Yates) 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
People v. Yates, 235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 756, 25 Cal. App. 5th 474 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

LUI, P.J.

*476This case presents the following issue: May an expert relate as true the case-specific content of documents which were neither admitted into evidence nor shown to be covered by a hearsay exception? We conclude under People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665, 684-686, 204 Cal.Rptr.3d 102, 374 P.3d 320 ( Sanchez ), that such testimony is inadmissible.

A jury found David Yates (Yates) to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) under the Sexually Violent Predators Act (the SVP Act or the Act). ( Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600 et seq. )1 Yates contends the jury's finding must be overturned because the trial court committed numerous prejudicial errors under Sanchez , including erroneously permitting the experts to testify to a massive amount of inadmissible case-specific hearsay. We agree that the trial court misapplied Sanchez and erroneously allowed the People's experts to relate as true case-specific facts contained in hearsay statements, which were not covered by a hearsay exception or independently proven by competent evidence. ( Sanchez , supra , 63 Cal.4th at p. 686, 204 Cal.Rptr.3d 102, 374 P.3d 320.) Because that testimony was prejudicial, we reverse.

*477PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 21, 2011, the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a petition to commit Yates as a sexually violent predator under the SVP Act. The trial court found probable cause to hold Yates over for trial, and a jury trial commenced on November 8, 2016. The jury returned a verdict finding Yates to be a sexually violent predator as alleged in the petition. The trial court ordered him committed to the California Department of Mental Health for an indeterminate term.

*760DISCUSSION

I. The SVP Act

The SVP Act allows for the involuntary civil commitment of certain offenders following the completion of their prison terms who are found to be sexually violent predators. ( People v. Roberge (2003) 29 Cal.4th 979, 984, 129 Cal.Rptr.2d 861, 62 P.3d 97 ( Roberge ).) An alleged SVP is entitled to a jury trial, at which the People must prove three elements beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) the person has suffered a conviction of at least one qualifying "sexually violent offense," (2) the person has "a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger to the health and safety of others," and (3) the mental disorder makes it likely the person will engage in future predatory acts of sexually violent criminal behavior if released from custody. ( §§ 6600, 6603, 6604 ; People v. Shazier (2014) 60 Cal.4th 109, 126, 175 Cal.Rptr.3d 774, 331 P.3d 147 ; People v. McKee (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1172, 1185, 104 Cal.Rptr.3d 427, 223 P.3d 566.)

Under section 6600, subdivision (a)(3), the People may prove the first element-the existence and details underlying the commission of the predicate offense(s)-"by introducing 'documentary evidence, including, but not limited to, preliminary hearing transcripts, trial transcripts, probation and sentencing reports, and evaluations by the State Department of State Hospitals.' "2 ( People v. Burroughs (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 378, 403, 211 Cal.Rptr.3d 656 ( Burroughs ); Roa , supra , 11 Cal.App.5th at p. 443, 217 Cal.Rptr.3d 604.) The Act thus contains a broad hearsay exception for the documentary evidence described in the statute as well as for the multiple-level hearsay statements contained in such documents in order "to relieve victims of the burden and trauma of testifying about the details of the crimes underlying the prior *478convictions," which may have occurred many years in the past. ( People v. Otto (2001) 26 Cal.4th 200, 208, 109 Cal.Rptr.2d 327, 26 P.3d 1061 ( Otto ); Roa , supra , at pp. 443-444, 217 Cal.Rptr.3d 604.)

The Act defines the diagnosed mental disorder required for the second element 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." ( § 6600, subd. (c) ; Roa , supra , 11 Cal.App.5th at p. 444, 217 Cal.Rptr.3d 604

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 756, 25 Cal. App. 5th 474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-yates-calctapp5d-2018.