In re T.A.G.
Decision Date | 06 May 2019 |
Docket Number | No. 20180374,20180374 |
Citation | 926 N.W.2d 702 |
Parties | In the INTEREST OF T.A.G. Julie Lawyer, Petitioner and Appellee v. T.A.G., Respondent and Appellant |
Court | North Dakota Supreme Court |
Julie A. Lawyer, Burleigh County State’s Attorney, Bismarck, ND, petitioner and appellee.
Tyler J. Morrow, Grand Forks, ND, for respondent and appellant.
[¶1] T.A.G. appeals from an order denying discharge from commitment as a sexually dangerous individual. T.A.G. argues the district court did not make sufficient findings or meet its burden of clear and convincing evidence on the elements of "likely to reoffend" and "serious difficulty controlling behavior." We retain jurisdiction under N.D.R.App.P. 35(a)(3) and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
[¶2] On September 7, 2018, the district court conducted an annual review hearing on T.A.G.’s civil commitment. At the hearing the court heard testimony from Dr. Erik Fox and T.A.G. On October 17, 2018, the court denied T.A.G.’s petition for discharge.
[¶3] This Court reviews civil commitments of sexually dangerous individuals under a modified clearly erroneous standard of review. Interest of Nelson , 2017 ND 152, ¶ 3, 896 N.W.2d 923. We affirm a district court’s order unless it is "induced by an erroneous view of the law, or we are firmly convinced the order is not supported by clear and convincing evidence." Id. When reviewing the district court’s order, this Court gives "great deference to the court’s credibility determinations of expert witnesses and the weight to be given their testimony." In re Johnson , 2016 ND 29, ¶ 3, 876 N.W.2d 25. To be committed as a sexually dangerous individual a person must meet the three statutory elements:
[¶4] In addition to the three statutory elements, the State must satisfy substantive due process and prove the committed individual has serious difficulty controlling his behavior. In re Whitetail, 2013 ND 143, ¶ 5, 835 N.W.2d 827. In Kansas v. Crane , the Supreme Court explained that
534 U.S. 407, 413, 122 S.Ct. 867, 151 L.Ed.2d 856 (2002). Although not mathematical, the "inability to control behavior ... must be sufficient to distinguish the dangerous sexual offender whose serious mental illness, abnormality, or disorder subjects him to civil commitment from the dangerous but typical recidivist convicted in an ordinary criminal case." Id . Thus, a "connection between the disorder and the individual’s inability to control" his actions must be found. Nelson , 2017 ND 152, ¶ 4, 896 N.W.2d 923.
[¶5] North Dakota incorporates the Crane requirement through the definition of sexually dangerous individual, which requires "proof of a nexus between the requisite disorder and dangerousness [to] encompass[ ] proof that the disorder involves serious difficulty in controlling behavior and suffices to distinguish a dangerous sexual offender whose disorder subjects him to civil commitment from the dangerous but typical recidivist in the ordinary criminal case." In re J.M. , 2006 ND 96, ¶ 10, 713 N.W.2d 518. The three statutory elements and the Crane element must be proven by the State with clear and convincing evidence. Nelson , 2017 ND 152, ¶ 5, 896 N.W.2d 923.
[¶6] The parties stipulated to elements one and two. Regarding elements three and the Crane requirement, whether T.A.G. is likely to reoffend and whether he has serious difficulty controlling behavior, the district court stated:
A district court must make the specific factual findings upon which it bases legal conclusions. Nelson , 2017 ND 152, ¶ 5, 896 N.W.2d 923. The district court errs as a matter of law when its findings are insufficient or do not support the legal conclusions. Id .
[¶7] Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a)(1), when an action is tried on the facts without a jury, the district court must find the facts specially and state its conclusions of law separately. This Court has further explained:
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