People v. Ramirez CA1/4

Filed 10/1/15 P. v. Ramirez CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A140980 v. JESSE RAMIREZ, (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. 89032231A) Defendant and Appellant.

Jesse Ramirez is the subject of a mental health conservatorship under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 5000 et seq., 5350 et seq.) (the Murphy conservatorship). Ramirez contends the evidence is insufficient to support the authorization for the conservator to require him to submit to treatment. We shall dismiss the appeal as moot. This is the second time Ramirez’s Murphy conservatorship has been before us. In Ramirez’s prior appeal (People v. Ramirez (July 31, 2014, A138461) [nonpub. opn.] (Ramirez I)), we affirmed in part and reversed in part an order appointing a conservator. We quote from our opinion in Ramirez I: I. MURPHY CONSERVATORSHIP Pursuant to Penal Code section 1367, a criminal defendant who is mentally incompetent, that is, unable to understand the nature of the proceedings or assist counsel in the defense, cannot be tried. Under our state’s statutory scheme in such cases, “[a] defendant who, as a result of a mental disorder, is adjudged not competent to stand trial on a felony charge may be committed to a state hospital for no more than three years.

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([Pen. Code,] §§ 1367, subd. (b), 1370, subds. (a), (c); People v. Karriker (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 763, 780 [(Karriker)].) If, at the end of the three-year period, the medical staff determines there is no substantial likelihood the defendant will regain mental competence in the foreseeable future, the defendant must be returned to the court for further proceedings. [Citations.] The three-year period under section 1370, subdivisions (a) and (c), applies to the aggregate of all commitments for treatment for incompetency regarding the same charges. [Citation.] [¶] Once an incompetent defendant has been committed for the maximum commitment period, if it appears to the court that the defendant is ‘gravely disabled,’ the court shall order the conservatorship investigator to initiate a ‘Murphy conservatorship.’ (People v. Karriker, supra, 149 Cal.App.4th at pp. 775–777, 781; see [Pen. Code,] § 1370, subd. (c)(2); Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5008, subd. (h)(1)(B).) The court may impose a Murphy conservatorship if it finds the defendant, as a result of a mental disorder, ‘ “represents a substantial danger of physical harm to others.” ’ [Citations.] Alternatively, the court can dismiss the charges and order the defendant released, without prejudice to the initiation of alternative commitment proceedings under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act. [Citations.]” (People v. Reynolds (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 801, 806, fn. omitted.) Such a conservatorship automatically terminates after one year; if the conservator determines a conservatorship is still required at that point, the conservator may petition the superior court for reappointment for another one-year period. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5361; Karriker, supra, 149 Cal.App.4th at p. 778.) II. BACKGROUND Ramirez was charged with three counts of arson: two counts of arson in that he caused to be burned separate structures on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley (Pen. Code, § 451, subd. (c)), and one count of arson of property of another in that he burned or caused to be burned property on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley (Pen. Code, § 451,