Rodriguez v. Super. Ct.
Annotate this Case
In the case, a defendant, Mario Rodriguez, was charged with several felonies, each carrying a maximum sentence exceeding two years. In 2018, Rodriguez was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and committed to a state hospital. After a certificate indicating his restoration to competency was filed within the two-year time limit, Rodriguez was returned to court. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, his hearing to confirm his competency did not take place within the two-year period. Rodriguez sought to dismiss the charges against him, claiming the time for commitment had run out.
The Supreme Court of California held that under the relevant statutes, the time between the filing of a certificate of restoration of mental competency and the court's ruling on that certificate counts towards the two-year maximum commitment period mandated by section 1370(c)(1) of the California Penal Code. Therefore, the filing of a certificate of restoration does not end the period of mental incompetency commitment.
The court sent the case back to the Court of Appeal to decide whether the two-year limit was exceeded in this case, and if so, what remedy Rodriguez might be entitled to. The court did not decide whether Rodriguez was entitled to the remedy of dismissal he sought, or whether and how the issue of tolling may affect Rodriguez's entitlement to any relief.
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.