Editor’s Note: review granted on this case. Petitioner, an adjudicated mentally disordered offender (MDO), had been given antipsychotic medication involuntarily. Petitioner consistently denied that he suffers from a mental disorder and declined to cooperate with treatment. The Director at Napa State Hospital offered the opinion that the medication was necessary to achieve remission of the psychoses. Petitioner alleged a violation of his statutory and due process rights. The Court of Appeal held that petitioner has the right under Penal Code section 2972, subdivision (g), to refuse antipsychotic medication for his mental disorder, in the absence of a judicial determination of his incompetence to make this decision.
Case Summaries