People v. Spear CA1/1

Filed 1/6/21 P. v. Spear CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 ONE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A158302 v. BILLY SPEAR, (Lake County Super. Ct. No. CR952216) Defendant and Appellant.

Billy Spear was committed to the Department of State Hospitals for an indefinite term after a jury found him to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) within the meaning of the Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA).1 On appeal, he contends that his commitment cannot stand because there was insufficient evidence that his diagnosed mental disorder predisposes him to commit sexually violent crimes. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Spear has schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, which is “a combination of a mood disorder with psychosis.” In particular, he

Welfare and Institutions Code, section 6600 et sequitur. All further 1

statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise noted.

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“experiences mania . . . mixed with auditory or visual hallucinations and delusion.” He began showing symptoms of the disorder in the early 1990’s, when he was in his twenties. The “sexually violent offense” qualifying Spear as an SVP occurred in Sonoma County in 2010. Spear followed a female stranger on the street and, when she stopped at a crosswalk, he “smiled at her and said ‘pussy.’ ” He also called her “Daphne,” an “apparent reference to a female character in the Scooby Doo cartoon.” She tried to walk away from him, but he “grabbed” her, pushed her against a fence, and “was fondling and groping her” as she resisted. At one point, he “pushed on her vagina and slightly inserted his finger in her vagina” through her clothes. As a result of this incident, Spear was convicted of genital penetration under Penal Code section 289, subdivision (a)(1), and sentenced to three years in prison. After serving this term, he was found to be a mentally disordered offender and returned to a state hospital for treatment. He was paroled in 2014 but failed to register as a sex offender, and he quickly returned to prison. A few months after Spear was again paroled, in mid-2016, a woman was riding a bus in Lake County when Spear boarded and “kept trying to talk to [her]” as she ignored him. Spear then sat by her and “lunge[d] at [her] and tried to kiss [her]” but did not actually touch her. As a result of this incident, he was convicted of false imprisonment under Penal Code section 236 and sentenced to four years in prison. In November 2018, shortly before Spear was due to be paroled, the People filed a petition seeking Spear’s indefinite commitment to a state hospital as an SVP. The trial court found probable cause existed for the commitment, and a jury trial was held in August 2019. At trial, evidence was