P. v. Njuguna CA4/3
A jury convicted John Nganga Njuguna of second degree robbery and resisting a police officer. (Pen. Code, §§ 211/212.5, subd. (c); 148, subd. (a)(1).) The trial court placed Njuguna on five years of formal probation, with terms that included 252 days in jail offset by credit for time served. Njuguna contends the court erred by denying his request to call a jail psychiatrist to testify regarding his bizarre behavior two days after the robbery and to relay her diagnosis that Njuguna suffered from a “psychotic disorder not otherwise specified” at that time. But the doctor explained at a pretrial hearing that as a clinician rather than a forensic psychiatric expert, and with no opportunity to conduct a formal examination, nor to contact Njuguna’s family members or otherwise learn of any relevant medical or social history, she would not be able to give an opinion concerning Njuguna’s mental state at the time of the offense. Njuguna neither sought a different expert, nor avail
Comments on P. v. Njuguna CA4/3