In re Lemanuel C. 5/12/06 CA1/1

State: California

Court: 1st District Court of Appeal 1st District Court of Appeal

Docket No: A109322

Case Date: 08/23/2006

Preview:Filed 5/12/06

CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION* IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE

In re LEMANUEL C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LEMANUEL C., Defendant and Appellant. A109322 (Solano County Super. Ct. No. J31469)

Welfare and Institutions Code section 1800 provides for extended detention of a ward of the California Youth Authority (CYA), by way of a civil commitment extending beyond the date of his CYA discharge. At the time of the proceedings below, the statute authorized such a commitment if the ward "would be physically dangerous to the public because of [his] mental or physical deficiency, disorder, or abnormality . . . ." The juvenile court ordered such an extended detention of defendant, Lemanuel C. Defendant contends that Welfare and Institutions Code section 1800 is unconstitutional, that there was insufficient evidence to support the extended detention, and that other errors infected the proceedings.

Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 976(b) and 976.1, this opinion is certified for publication with the exception of parts II.-B, II.-C, and II.-D of the discussion. 1

*

We disagree with defendant's various contentions and affirm. In the published portion of this opinion, we hold that Welfare and Institutions Code section 1800 does not violate due process under the leading cases defining the findings necessary for constitutionally valid civil commitments. I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND & FACTS We must set forth in some detail the procedural background of this case. With regard to factual determinations of the juvenile court from the evidence before it, we adhere to the applicable standards of appellate review. We must view the facts in the light most favorable to the juvenile court's determinations, and presume in support of those determinations the existence of every fact which the juvenile court could reasonably find from the evidence. (See People v. Barnes (1986) 42 Cal.3d 284, 303 (Barnes); People v. Neufer (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 244, 247 (Neufer).) A. Procedural Background In April of 1999, the juvenile court sustained an allegation that defendant, then 14, committed sodomy on a person under 18, a felony (Pen. Code,

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