LAKEPORT — Billy Dale Spear of Lakeport was determined last week to be a sexually violent predator, according to Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones.
On August 21, Spear, 52, finished a jury trial that ended with the verdict.
Sexually Violent Predator proceedings are relatively uncommon, said Krones. Prior to Mr. Spear, Lake County had not received a referral from the Department of State Hospitals in 10 years.
Following is a release from Krones’ office on Spears:
Sexually Violent Predator proceedings are a form of civil commitment codified at Welfare and Institutions Code section 6600 et seq. All persons convicted of a crime of sexual violence are evaluated by the California Department of State Hospitals prior to their release on parole to determine if the inmate meets the criteria to be deemed a Sexually Violent Predator. If the examiners determine that the subject meets the criteria to be found a Sexually Violent Predator, a referral is sent to the District Attorney’s office in the county of the subject’s last prison commitment. The Lake County District Attorney’s office filed a petition alleging that Mr. Spear was a Sexually Violent Predator on November 1, 2018.
At trial, to establish that a person is a Sexually Violent Predator, the prosecution must show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that: the inmate has been convicted of committing sexually violent offenses against one or more victims; the inmate has a diagnosed mental disorder; as a result of that diagnosed mental disorder, the inmate is a danger to the health and safety of others because it is likely that he will engage in sexually violent predatory criminal behavior; and that is necessary to keep him in custody in a secure facility to ensure the health and safety of others.
Mr. Spear’s qualifying conviction occurred in January, 2010 in Santa Rosa. Evidence presented at trial established that Mr. Spear approached a young woman with whom he had no prior acquaintance and viciously assaulted her. He pushed her against a chain-link fence and sexually assaulted her. He was arrested and convicted of sexual penetration with force, a sexually violent offense.
While in custody at the Sonoma County jail awaiting resolution of the case, Mr. Spear deliberately exposed himself to several female correctional officers. Three of those officers testified at trial. He was sentenced to three years in state prison, and after having completed his sentence, was civilly committed as a Mentally Disorder Offender until his release on parole in July of 2014. He was subsequently arrested and convicted of failure to register as a sex offender after release from incarceration. He was sentenced to three years in state prison for that offense.
Mr. Spear was paroled in January 2016; in April 2016, he was arrested in Lake County for a violation of Penal Code section 236, false imprisonment by means of force. He was on a Lake Transit bus when he approached a young woman, blocked her into a seat, and attempted to kiss her. Mr. Spear is six feet two inches and weighed approximately 285 pounds at the time of this offense. For that crime he received a sentence of four years in state prison.
Because of his qualifying conviction, he was evaluated prior to his parole date by two psychologists to determine whether he was a Sexually Violent Predator. Those psychologists split, one finding that he fulfilled the criteria to be found a Sexually Violent Predator, one finding that he did not. As a result of the split opinion, Mr. Spear was evaluated by two more psychologists who each found that Mr. Spear met the definition of a Sexually Violent Predator.
All four psychologists testified at trial. All four agreed that Mr. Spear suffers from the diagnosed mental disorder of schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. That condition may cause delusions; testimony established that Mr. Spear’s schizoaffective disorder initially manifested when he was 24 years old and a resident of Mendocino County. At that time, while delusional, he stabbed his family dog and his mother. He was charged with attempted murder, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a state hospital for several years.
Mr. Spear was also convicted of a violation of battery with serious bodily injury in 2009 which occurred in San Francisco; Mr. Spear savagely beat a homeless woman, again while delusional, for which he received probation. He was still on probation for that offense when he committed his qualifying offense in Santa Rosa in 2010.
Based upon their review of the his record and clinical evaluation, three of the four psychologists testified that as a result of his schizoaffective disorder, Mr. Spear would be a danger to the health and safety of others because it is likely that he will engage in sexually violent predatory criminal behavior if released. The fourth psychologist testified that he thought it likely that Mr. Spear would reoffend, but he believed that if he did so that his offense would be sexually aggressive rather than sexually violent. Testimony established that Mr. Spear’s schizoaffective disorder both caused him to suffer delusions and resulted in significant impairment in self-control due to hyper-sexuality and poor impulse control.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy D.A. Edward M. Borg. Mr. Spear was represented by Komnith Moth. Judge J. David Markham presided over the trial. On Aug. 21, as a result of the jury’s verdict, Judge Markham ordered Mr. Spear committed to the State Hospital at Coalinga for an indeterminate term.
