People v. Dias

In People v. Dias (1985) 170 Cal. App. 3d 756, the defendant was committed under the former MDSO law. His release date was originally calculated to be November 12, 1981, but it was subsequently recalculated to be April 21, 1984, based on the theory that the time he spent as an outpatient should not count towards his commitment. On August 30, 1983, a petition for extended commitment was filed. On appeal from that extended commitment, the defendant argued that his time spent as an outpatient should have counted toward his commitment period. The court agreed. It then addressed the fact that, properly calculated, his commitment period had expired before the petition for extended commitment was filed. The court explained that "an order for extended commitment will generally be void if the petition was filed after the commitment expired" but that such an order would be valid "if, as a result of legislative or judicial change, the term expired without a reasonable opportunity to prepare and file the petition." (Id. at pp. 762-763.) As the error there had "resulted from a mistake of law" and there was "no hint of negligent or intentional wrongdoing," the defendant's extended commitment was upheld. (Id. at p. 763.)