California Court of Appeals, Second District, Sixth Division
[254
Cal.Rptr.3d 844] Superior Court County of San Luis Obispo,
Matthew G. Guerrero, Judge (Super. Ct. No. 18PT-00498)(San
Luis Obispo County)
COUNSEL
Christopher
Lionel Haberman, Visalia, under appointment by the Court of
Appeal for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier
Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant
Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney
General, Scott A. Taryle, Supervising Deputy Attorney
General, Christopher G. Sanchez, David F. Glassman, Deputy
Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
YEGAN,
Acting P. J.
Page 166
Pierre
R. suffers from a multitude of mental infirmities. The trial
court found that he is a Mentally Disordered Offender.
Page 167
(MDO Act; Pen. Code, � 2960 et seq.).[1] His range of mental
infirmities provides a real challenge for mental health
professionals. And it is somewhat challenging for the courts
to "pigeonhole" his multiple disorders into the
statutory scheme. He appeals the trial court’s order
committing him to the Department of Mental Health for
treatment. We affirm.
Procedural History
In
2016, appellant, a registered sex offender, accosted an
11-year-old girl in the presence of her mother. He walked his
fingers up the girl’s arm and shoulder, touched her face, and
tried to walk away with her. Mother protested. The police
were summoned and appellant was arrested. Appellant pled no
contest to felony annoying or molesting a child under the age
of 18 with a prior conviction (� 647.6, subds. (a)(1) &
(c)(1)). He was sentenced to state prison.
In
2018, the Board of Prison Terms certified appellant as an MDO
and committed him to the State Department of Mental Health
for treatment. Appellant filed a petition challenging the
decision (� 2966, subd. (b)), and personally waived jury
trial.
Doctor
Angie Shenouda, a forensic psychologist, opined that
appellant suffered from schizophrenia and pedophilic
disorder, severe mental disorders pursuant to the MDO Act.
She said that appellant had a long history of sexually
deviant behaviors directed at prepubescent girls. The
schizophrenia, described as schizoaffective
disorder in appellant’s mental health records,
was manifested by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized
speech, and paranoia.
Dr.
Shenouda opined that the schizophrenia was not in remission
and that appellant represented a substantial risk of harm to
others because he lacked insight about his disorder and
treatment. Appellant [254 Cal.Rptr.3d 845] also had a history
of severe mental illness related violence. It was a concern
because appellant had an untreated substance abuse problem,
was not medication compliant, and was on probation or
supervised release when he committed the qualifying offense.
Admissibility of Police Reports to Establish That
Commitment Offense Involved Force or Violence
Appellant contends that the police report of the commitment
offense was inadmissible and violated his due ...