January 26, 2026
Court of Appeal of the State of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three
The Rule of Joel Praneet Siam is that when determining whether a defendant's symptoms would respond to treatment under Penal Code section 1001.36(c)(1), a trial court may not override a qualified mental health expert's opinion with its own lay opinion about treatment responsiveness, under circumstances where a licensed psychologist provides an uncontroverted expert opinion that the defendant's mental disorder symptoms would respond to treatment.