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Name: People v. Burns
Case #: A106643
Opinion Date: 04/21/2005
Division: 5
Citation: 128 Cal.App.4th 794
Summary

A defendant facing commitment as a sexually violent predator is not entitled to the presence of counsel at psychological interviews. The court based its conclusion on the fact that SVP proceedings are not criminal actions and thus do not afford the full range of constitutional protections afforded to criminal defendants. In the SVP context, providing a defendant with counsel at a psychiatric evaluation would undermine the goal of reliably identifying persons whose mental conditions make them likely to commit further acts of sexual violence.