Solano County Judge Orders Release of Sexually Violent Prisoner

A Solano County Superior Court judge this morning ordered the release on transient status of sexually violent predator Fraisure Smith from Coalinga State Hospital by Nov. 30, a Solano County prosecutor said.

The decision by Judge Arvid Johnson means Liberty Health Care will likely find housing for Smith at motels and move him every four or five days under the Department of State Hospitals’ Conditional Release Program (CONREP), Deputy District Attorney Mary Nguyen said.

The Solano County District Attorney’s Office opposed releasing Smith as a transient, Nguyen said.

Smith, 51, was sentenced to prison in 2006 after he pleaded no contest to assault with intent to commit rape.

A jury in 2010 agreed with prosecutors that Smith was a sexually violent predator, and he was committed to Coalinga State Hospital on July 24, 2010. Smith filed a petition for conditional release and unconditional discharge in April 2012. In November 2013, the court ordered him released via CONREP, which then sought housing that was not within a quarter-mile of a public or private school with students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

This February, CONREP recommended Smith be placed on Willotta Drive in unincorporated Solano County near Suisun City, but in April, Johnson blocked the move because of the residence’s close proximity to Solano Community College.

The judge noted the age of female students at the college were consistent with Smith’s past victim profile, prosecutors said.

CONREP then proposed a location on Olive Avenue in Fairfield, but in July the property owner withdrew that property from consideration.

In August, CONREP recommended Smith be placed at a residence in Concord, but in September the owner of that property withdrew it from consideration.

CONREP said it had looked at 4,108 placement possibilities in Solano, Napa, Yolo and Contra Costa counties. Smith renewed his motion on Sept. 25 to be released on transient status, and Johnson indicated he would grant the motion if CONREP did not find a permanent residence for Smith before today’s hearing.

--Bay City News