How does section 2970 of the California Mental Health Act apply when a defendant is committed to a long-term mental health commitment?

Initially, section 2970, which provides for recommitment, "does not exist in a statutory vacuum. It is part of a progressive scheme. . . . [Citation.] If the People's burden is met as to all six criteria at the initial proceedings, and extensions of the commitment are later sought, the static criteria do not have to be reestablished." (People v. Crivello (2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 612, 617.) Here, as noted above, the static criteria included that defendant suffered from a severe mental disorder that was a cause or aggravating factor in the commission of the underlying crime and the underlying crime

Page 26

was a violent crime. (Lopez v. Superior Court, supra, 50 Cal.4th at p. 1062.) Defendant never challenged her initial commitment and as such could not challenge that her mental illness was a cause or aggravating factor in committing the arson. (Id. at p. 1065.) The trial could consider that her mental illness was a cause of her committing the violent crime of arson.