Courts must investigate if an incapable inmate was previously opposed to electroconvulsive therapy before authorizing the therapy, an appellate panel stemming from a San Bernardino Case decided Jan. 11.
Previously, courts could authorize electroconvulsive therapy if the court found the inmate incapable of consent, if the therapy would be beneficial and if there was a compelling justification for it.
Electroconvulsive therapy involves electric shocks applied to the brain to produce a seizure while the patient is under therapy, the panel said.
In this case, a 44-year-old inmate convicted of murder, Rudy Terrazas, was diagnosed schizophrenic and bipolar. The acting warden of Chico’s California Institute for Men petitioned for Terrazas to receive the therapy under a process defined by Penal Code sections 2670 through 2680.
San Bernardino Superior Judge Charles Umeda authorized the therapy for up to six months after he found that Terrazas was incapable of making the decision, following testimony from Terrazas and a prison psychiatrist. Terrazas filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and claimed the right to a surrogate decisionmaker to decide if electroconvulsive therapy is necessary and consistent with his wishes.
The appellate panel ruled that Californians have a constitutional privacy right that protects against receiving unwanted medical treatment. The California Constitution, Article I, Section 1 “guarantees to the individual the freedom to choose to reject, or refuse to consent to, intrusions of his bodily integrity,” the panel is cited In re Qawi (2004) as finding.
Medical decisions should be based on one’s own interests and values, the panel said, citing Conservatorship of Wendland.
For almost all medical treatments involving prisoners in California, it is already the case that the inmate’s wishes while competent are considered even if the inmate later lacks capacity, the panel said.
The panel directed the San Bernardino Superior Court to determine whether Terrazas had previously expressed opposition to electroconvulsive therapy.
Thomas W. Sone, San Bernardino County public defender and Edward J. O’Brien, deputy public defender, represented Terrazas.
Rob Bonta, attorney general; Phillip J. Lindsay, assistant attorney general; and Amanda J. Murray and John P. Walters, deputy attorneys general, responded.
Associate Justice Michael Raphael wrote the opinion, which Associate Justices Douglas Miller and Art McKinster joined.
Superior Court number FELSB21000038.
Appellate Court number E077170.
Read the ruling here.
