Assemblymember Connolly Updates Criminal Procedure for Mentally Incompetent Defendants with New Legislation

SAN RAFAEL, CA – Today, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), in partnership with Marin District Attorney Lori Frugoli, introduced AB 1822, a bill that will allow those charged with misdemeanor sexual assault crimes who have been determined incompetent to stand trial the ability to restore their competency and receive treatment services.

“Those who engage in predatory behavior should not have their cases dismissed without court-ordered treatment and sex offender registration,” said Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael). “The requirement that these defendants are restored to mental competency is vital to the safety of our community, and we should ensure that these defendants are not being put back on the streets without proper mental health treatment or corrective action.”

When a defendant is determined to be incompetent to stand trial on a misdemeanor sexual offense, their case is usually dismissed without mental health treatment. As a result, some dangerous defendants who commit sex crimes are released back into the community without intervention or registration on the sex offender registry. In an egregious case in Marin County, a defendant was arrested for sexual assault and charged with a misdemeanor in 2007, but only required to register as a sex offender for the period of probation. He was arrested again in 2015 and twice in 2020 for similar offenses, where he was convicted of a felony violation but still not required to register as a sex offender. In 2022, while on parole, he again committed a similar offense and was charged with a misdemeanor, but determined incompetent to stand trial, and the court had no choice but to dismiss his case without any mental health intervention or registration as a sex offender.

“We are often asked why individuals who are charged with misdemeanor predatory sexual offenses requiring sex registration are dismissed resulting in them remaining untreated and often unhoused in our community,” said District Attorney Frugloi. “This bill addresses that exact public safety issue and is vitally important to ensure defendants who engage in this behavior receive the appropriate mental health and sex offender treatment that will provide rehabilitation opportunities for the defendant and in turn protect our communities.  We sincerely thank Assembly Member Connolly for addressing and providing a solution to this important issue.”

AB 1822 would require that any defendant incompetent to stand trial on a misdemeanor sex offense undergo competency restoration. This bill prescribes that if a mentally incompetent individual is charged with a misdemeanor that requires registration as a sex offender, they will be required to receive court-ordered services for treatment so they can stand trial.

AB 1822 is currently waiting to be assigned to a policy committee.

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Assemblymember Connolly represents the entirety of Marin County and Southern Sonoma County