California v. Martinez
Annotate this CaseThe issue presented for the Court of Appeal's review was whether an appellate court was required to independently review an appellate record for the existence of meritorious issues in a matter where the superior court extended the civil commitment of an individual previously found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI), when the individual's appointed counsel informed the court he or she has found no arguable issues on appeal, the client has been notified of that fact, and was given the chance to file a brief, but did not raise any issues for appeal. Defendant-Appellant Jose Martinez was found NGI; his appointed appellate counsel found no arguable issues, and Martinez did not file a supplemental brief on his own behalf. Counsel raised the issue of due process, and contended that the Court of Appeal had an obligation to review the appellate record as was the rule in first criminal appeals of right. California courts have found no such obligation on an appeal from the establishment of a conservatorship after the denial of a petition for outpatient treatment of an NGI or of an order committing an individual as a mentally disordered offender. The Court of Appeal held that due process did not require an appellate court to conduct an independent review of the appellate record for possible issues in an appeal from an extension of an NGI's civil commitment.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.