People v. Leonard CA3

── People v. Leonard CA3 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General Filed 4/16/26 P. v. Leonard CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Placer) THE PEOPLE, C103245 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. SCV-0018150) v. HARVEY MACK LEONARD, Defendant and Appellant. Defendant Harvey Mack Leonard was committed for an indefinite term of treatment as a sexually violent predator under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (Welf. & Inst. Code,1 § 6600 et seq.) (Act). He appeals from an order denying his petition for conditional release as frivolous. (See § 6608, subd. (a).) Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying his petition, which he argues “made a prima facie showing that he would not be a danger to others while under supervision and treatment in the community.” We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2008, defendant was adjudged a sexually violent predator under the Act and committed to the State Department of State Hospitals (Department) for an indefinite term. Prior to his indefinite commitment, defendant had been continually incarcerated or 1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 1 institutionalized since 1996. Defendant’s sexual offense history spanned an nine-year period from 1976 to 1985, during which he was convicted of two counts of forcible rape involving female victims under the age of 18 years old. Several adult female victims also alleged that during this period defendant committed sexual assault, assault with intent to commit rape, attempted rape, digital penetration, forcible oral copulation, and forcible rape. I Petition For Conditional Release On July 5, 2024, defendant filed a petition for conditional release pursuant to section 6608, subdivision (a). In support of this petition, defendant attached a declaration and eight exhibits. Most exhibits were documents the Department created between 2019 and 2024—including treatment plans, annual evaluations, psychological assessments, and a progress note. The last was a community reentry plan prepared by defendant on a Department form. In defendant’s declaration, he stated “professional staff” assessed his dangerousness as low. He also challenged the Department’s annual evaluator’s determinations and raised his medical conditions and advanced age as protective factors against reoffense. The January 2024 treatment plan exhibit identified the following dynamic risk factors as barriers to defendant’s discharge: intimacy deficits (i.e., hostility towards women and lack of concern for others); general self-regulation (i.e., impulsive acts, poor cognitive problem-solving, and negative emotionality or hostility); sexual self-regulation (i.e., sex as coping and deviant sexual interests); and lack of cooperation with supervision. Defendant enrolled in a sex offender treatment program to address his sexual self-regulation. According to the community reentry plan exhibit, defendant intended to relocate to a mobile home in Tennessee and support himself by renting mobile homes in partnership 2 with his family. Defendant wrote the plan