Reynaldo A. Maldonado, Petitioner v. the Superior Court of San Mateo County, Respondent; the People, Real Party In…

Summary

The court held that a defendant who gives notice of an intended mental-state defense may be compelled to undergo prosecution-retained mental examinations, and the prosecution may obtain pretrial access to the resulting materials, subject to direct- and derivative-use immunity. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments do not generally require prosecutors to be excluded from the examinations or require pretrial judicial screening and redaction. The court reversed the Court of Appeal and directed denial of the mandamus petition. Justice Liu, concurring, agreed with the result but emphasized that trial courts retain discretion to impose case-specific protections when ordinary use and derivative-use restrictions may be inadequate.