MDO

Under the MDO Act the deadline to evaluate and certify the prisoner is mandatory and failure to comply with it invalidates the Board’s determination. The Mentally Disordered Offender Act, Penal Code section 2960 et seq., provides for involuntary mental health…

Under the MDO Act (Pen. Code, sec. 2970), as with the NGI statute, deadlines are directory, rather than mandatory, and the court does not lose fundamental jurisdiction if the deadline for trial is not met. Following his conviction for assault…

Possession of a Molotov cocktail is an offense involving an implied threat to use force or violence within the meaning of the Mentally Disordered Offender Act (Pen. Code, § 2962). Appellant challenged his commitment to the Department of Mental Health…

Under Welfare and Institutions 6500, providing for commitment of a retarded person charged with a crime, due process considerations require that the jury, as opposed to the judge, determine if the charged offense is one which involves death, great bodily…

A mentally disordered offender could not challenge the foundational elements of the original commitment at a recommitment hearing. The prosecution sought by way of a section 2970 petition to extend Lopez's MDO commitment for an additional year. Lopez moved to…

Under Penal Code section 2972, the trial court has no sua sponte duty to determine suitability of a mentally disordered offender for outpatient treatment. Penal Code sections 2970 and 2972 provide the procedures for continuing the involuntary treatment of a…

The state's failure to timely file a petition under the Mentally Disordered Offender Statute (Pen. Code, sec. 2960 et seq.) may implicate a due process violation for which dismissal can be a proper remedy. Penal Code sections 2960 et seq.…