Medina v. Superior Court
Annotate this CasePetitioner Jose Medina was placed in custody in November 2016 on charges of second degree robbery and misdemeanor sexual battery. In June 2017, the respondent court found that Medina was mentally incompetent to stand trial and had a developmental disability under Penal Code section 1370.1. Since the time Medina was adjudicated to be mentally incompetent, he has received neither treatment nor a trial. The regional center and the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), which have the responsibility for providing services for people with developmental disabilities, disagreed with the court’s adjudication and concluded that Medina did not have a developmental disability. Although the incompetency order was legal and binding on the regional center and the DDS, they declined to offer Medina services or recommend placement. At issue was that the version of Penal Code 1369 and 1370.1 in effect in 2017 did not require the regional center’s determination that a defendant have a developmental disability. In 2017, a trial court’s findings of mental incompetence and developmental disability were sufficient, without concurrence by the regional center, to cause the suspension of criminal proceedings. In July 2020, the respondent court attempted to end the standoff by vacating the 2017 order adjudicating Medina to be incompetent. The court ordered new examinations and another competency hearing to be held. Medina challenged the respondent court’s actions by this petition for writ of mandate/prohibition. The Court of Appeal granted the petition in part and ordered the issuance of a writ directing the respondent court to vacate its order, reinstate the orders adjudicating Medina to be incompetent to stand trial and to have a developmental disability, and determine whether the maximum period of confinement has elapsed.
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