San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency v. Nikita A. CA4/1

Filed 9/14/23 San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency v. Nikita A. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND D081790 HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY,

Petitioner and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. HC26155) v.

NIKITA A.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Laura J. Birkmeyer, Judge. Affirmed. Laura Arnold, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Anjana Pottathil, Deputy County Counsel, for Petitioner and Respondent. Nikita A. suffers from bipolar I disorder with manic history and methamphetamine abuse. After Nikita was taken into custody under a Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 hold, the trial court ordered him to undergo up to 180 days of involuntary post-certification treatment under section 5300, subdivision (a)(2).

Before issuing the order, the court heard testimony from Nikita’s treating psychiatrist, Graham Scanlon, and special agent Kevin Shead, who had been investigating suspicious activity reports for Nikita. The evidence included, among other things, social media posts in which Nikita expressed his desire to date a “17-year-old bitch in high school” and “kidnap[ ]” a high school girl, which he acknowledged was “a bad idea.” Nikita did not, however, limit himself to these musings. He also visited a local high school and posted a sign seeking a 17-year-old girl to date. At the close of evidence, the trial court found that San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (County) had proved beyond a reasonable doubt the elements required under section 5300, subdivision (a)(2), including that Nikita “attempted to inflict physical harm upon a person of another.” On appeal, Nikita challenges the sufficiency of the evidence that he attempted to physically harm another person. He asserts that his social media posts and actions at the high school do not reflect an intent to physically harm anyone. Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the judgment and accepting all reasonable inferences that the court might have drawn, as we must, we disagree. We conclude that substantial evidence supports the trial court’s finding, and thus affirm the judgment. I. A. A psychiatrist diagnosed Nikita with bipolar I disorder with manic history and methamphetamine abuse. From about December 2022 until he was taken into custody in mid-February 2023, Nikita used methamphetamine every day. On February 5, 2023, Nikita was arrested for a domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend.