Appellant’s Sixth Amendment right to jury trial was not infringed when he did not personally waive his right to a jury trial in a MDO extension hearing pursuant to Penal Code section 2970. Trial counsel’s waiver on appellant’s behalf was adequate because the hearing was a civil jury trial, and thus appellant’s constitutional arguments did not apply. Since a jury sitting in a civil hearing pursuant to section 2970 does not impose punishment, appellant’s jury trial interest was “merely a matter of state procedural law” and did not implicate due process protections. Appellant was not denied effective assistance of counsel due to the unchallenged use of his medical records during the MDO extension hearing. Appellant suffered no prejudice from the introduction of the records, since each doctor who testified was familiar and testified consistently with them. Further, since the evidence against appellant was so strong, there was no likelihood the outcome of the proceedings would have been different had counsel objected to the introduction of the records.
Case Summaries