Conservatorship of Gordon

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 366 OPINION

SUMMARY A jury found Lawrence A. Gordon "gravely disabled" within the meaning of Welfare and Institutions Code section5008, subdivision (h). On appeal and by way of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, he argues he should have been given the 10 peremptory challenges provided by former Penal Code section 1070 rather than the 6 challenges he was given under *Page 367 former Code of Civil Procedure section 6011 Gordon also argues he was unfairly prejudiced when counsel for the San Diego County Department of Social Services (Department) explained the levels of restriction which might be placed on him if he were found gravely disabled. These contentions have no merit and we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 30, 1987, the Department filed a petition alleging Gordon's disability. He demanded a jury trial. Trial commenced on February 9, 1988. In support of its petition the Department presented the testimony of a psychiatrist who diagnosed Gordon as a paranoid schizophrenic who could not provide for his own food, clothing or shelter. Gordon's sister also testified in support of the petition. She stated that although funds were available to him, Gordon had been evicted from his apartment and was sleeping in a laundromat and in a park and eating in a soup kitchen. She testified she found him on a bench and he looked unbelievably dirty and extremely thin. He was unable to tell her what had become of his valuable personal possessions. Gordon testified on his own behalf. His testimony was in many respects incoherent; he did admit that at one point his weight had been down to 96 pounds from his normal weight of 135 pounds.

In her closing argument the Department's counsel repeated testimony given by a mental health counselor to the effect that a conservatorship lasts for one year, that a conservatee may ask that it be terminated earlier and that different levels of restriction may be placed on the conservatee. Gordon's counsel made no objection to either the testimony or the argument.

On February 10, 1988, the jury returned a verdict finding Gordon gravely disabled. The court thereafter appointed a conservator for Gordon and permitted Gordon to be placed in a locked treatment facility.

DISCUSSION I Peremptory Challenges In general the conduct of a conservatorship proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5000 et seq. is governed by the law and *Page 368 procedure relating to the trial of civil actions. (Welf. Inst. Code, § 5350; Prob. Code, § 1827) Where there are two parties in a civil trial, each party is permitted to exercise six peremptory challenges. (Code Civ. Proc., § 231, subd. (c).) (1a) Despite the statutory scheme which limited to six the number of challenges available to him, Gordon argues proposed conservatees should be given the ten peremptory challenges which are provided to criminal defendants. (Code Civ. Proc., § 231, subd. (a).) He argues that because a conservatorship proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5000 et seq., like a criminal proceeding, involves social stigma and a significant intrusion upon an individual's liberty, all of the procedural protections afforded criminal defendants should be made available to proposed conservatees. He points out that, as in criminal cases, proposed conservatees are given the right to a jury trial, the state must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and the jury must unanimously agree the conservatee is gravely disabled. (SeeConservatorship of Roulet (1979) 23 Cal.3d 219, 235 [152 Cal.Rptr. 425, 590 P.2d 1].)