CA Dept. of St. Hospitals v. A.H.

Filed 9/21/18 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT 2d Crim. No. B286187 OF STATE HOSPITALS, (Super. Ct. No. 17MH-0109) (San Luis Obispo County) Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

A.H.,

Defendant and Appellant.

A.H. appeals from a Qawi order (In re Qawi (2004) 32 Cal.4th 1) which authorizes the California Department of State Hospitals-Atascadero (Hospital or ASH) to involuntarily administer antipsychotic medication to treat his severe mental disorder. Appellant contends 1. the evidence does not support the finding that he is incompetent to refuse treatment, 2. the Qawi order violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and 3. The Qawi order violates his due process rights. Appellant’s views, whether religious or otherwise, are bizarre. The contentions based thereon, must be rejected. As we shall explain, the premise to this appeal is that “Zythite” or “Zahara,” a religion with a congregation of one, is not a sham and

that appellant is a true believer. He has the burden of proof on these issues (see ante, p. 5) and he has not met his burden. Sufficiency of the Evidence Appellant, a 31-year-old mentally disordered offender (MDO) suffers from schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and cannabis use disorder, severe. His symptoms include entrenched mood disorder featuring grandiose, often hyper-religious ideation; delusions; suicidal ideation; and post-traumatic stress nightmares with military related PTSD. Appellant’s commitment offense occurred in 2013. He started eight fires in Oceanside. Appellant had a backpack containing two red plastic gas containers and a Bic lighter. Appellant admitted setting the fires then lapsed into psychosis, speaking in a language that nobody understood. In 2017, after appellant was committed as an MDO, appellant became violent during a scheduled room check for contraband. He physically fought the hospital police. Then, he purposefully slammed his head against the wall and blamed the police for harming him. Appellant had to be placed in full bed restraints because he would not stop attempting to harm staff and himself. A month later, appellant was asked to draw a picture of his discharge plan. Appellant drew an automatic rifle with bullets spraying and wrote “‘mass shooting.’” Later in the day, appellant threatened hospital staff and clenched his fists.1 Hospital mental health professionals conducted two administrative hearings and determined that antipsychotic