Appellant was convicted of committing a lewd and lascivious act with a minor and sentenced to state prison in 1998. In 2004, the BPT determined that appellant was a mentally disordered offender (MDO). The examining experts relied on a June 1998 parole report which stated that appellant had molested a young girl in April, 1998, in addition to the underlying offense. The trial court found that appellant met the MDO requirements. On appeal, appellant argued that the reference in the parole report was unreliable hearsay. The appellate court agreed and reversed. The trial court abused its discretion by admitting an expert opinion based on information furnished by others which was unreliable. Here, the parole report didn’t identify the source of information, and the incident was not a parole violation charge nor were criminal charges were ever filed. The reference to the incident failed to establish its occurrence with sufficient reliability to be considered by the experts in forming their opinions. Without consideration of that incident, there was not sufficient evidence to support a finding that appellant suffered from pedophilia, and therefore reversal was required.
Case Summaries