People v. Lindsey

People v. Lindsey (1971) 20 Cal. App. 3d 742, provides a helpful contrast as to when a criminal appeal should be dismissed as moot. In Lindsey, a trial court determined after a hearing that a criminal defendant was insane and ordered him committed to a state hospital; the defendant appealed that order. Later, the defendant was certified as sane and criminal proceedings resumed. (People v. Lindsey, supra, 20 Cal. App. 3d at p. 743.) Lindsey observed, "The May 1971 order of commitment . . . is an appealable judgment. Since a person committed under Penal Code section 1370 must be held until he becomes sane, such a commitment may result in a permanent deprivation of liberty. In this case the superintendent's certification of sanity terminates the commitment, leaving no prejudicial consequences which could be ameliorated by a successful appeal. This appeal has therefore become moot and must be dismissed." (People v. Lindsey, supra, 20 Cal. App. 3d at pp. 743-744, ) Lindsey later observed, "the certificate of sanity . . . attests that defendant is no longer under . . . a mental disability. The law imposes no disadvantageous collateral consequences upon one whose trial has had to be postponed by reason of such a temporary disability." (Id. at p. 744, )