Gehlhoff v. Gehlhoff

• Docket Number: 20230005
• Decision Date: 07 July 2023
• Citation: 2023 ND 126
• Parties: In the Interest of William James Gehlhoff Tonya Duffy, State's Attorney, Petitioner and Appellee v. William James Gehlhoff, Respondent and Appellant
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

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2023 ND 126

In the Interest of William James Gehlhoff Tonya Duffy, State's Attorney, Petitioner and Appellee
v.
William James Gehlhoff, Respondent and Appellant

No. 20230005

Supreme Court of North Dakota

July 7, 2023

Appeal from the District Court of Barnes County, Southeast Judicial District, the Honorable Mark T. Blumer, Judge.

Tonya Duffy, State's Attorney, Valley City, N.D., for petitioner and appellee; submitted on brief.

Tyler J. Morrow, Grand Forks, N.D., for respondent and appellant.

Opinion of the Court by Tufte, Justice, in which Chief Justice Jensen and Justice McEvers joined. Justice Bahr filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Crothers joined.

OPINION

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Tufte, Justice

[¶1] William Gehlhoff appeals from a district court order denying his application for discharge from civil commitment as a sexually dangerous individual. On appeal, Gehlhoff argues the district court erred in finding by clear and convincing evidence that he has "serious difficulty controlling behavior." We affirm.

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[¶2] This Court has explained its standard of review for civil commitments of sexually dangerous individuals:

This Court reviews civil commitments of sexually dangerous individuals under a modified clearly erroneous standard. We will affirm a district court's decision unless it is induced by an erroneous view of the law or we are firmly convinced the decision is not supported by clear and convincing evidence. The court must specifically state the facts upon which its ultimate conclusion is based

Interest of Sternberg, 2023 ND 40, ¶ 7, 987 N.W.2d 340 (cleaned up). In civil commitment proceedings, the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that an individual has "serious difficulty in controlling behavior." Id. at ¶¶ 7-8 (citing Kansas v. Crane, 534 U.S. 407, 412 (2002)). The three statutory elements in N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8) are not at issue on this appeal.

II

[¶3] An individual has a "serious difficulty controlling behavior" if there is a "causal connection" or "nexus" between the individual's sexual disorder and inability to control behavior that would likely cause sexually predatory conduct in the future. Matter of Muscha, 2021 ND 164, ¶ 5, 964 N.W.2d 507. "This required proof separates a dangerous sexual offender, whom the court may subject to civil commitment, from the dangerous but typical recidivist in the ordinary criminal case." Sternberg, 2023 ND 40, ¶ 8 (quotations and citations omitted).

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[¶4] "The district court's findings must identify recent conduct or describe anything that shows an individual has a present serious difficulty controlling his behavior." Sternberg, 2023 ND 40, ¶ 13 (cleaned up). "[C]ontemporary evidence or specific instances are necessary to demonstrate that a person has a serious difficulty controlling behavior." Id. (quotations and citations omitted). In Sternberg, this Court concluded that Sternberg's criminal history was "far too remote in time to the commitment hearing to have any impact on the consideration of whether Sternberg has substantial difficulty controlling behavior." Sternberg, at ¶ 16 (quotations and citations omitted). Sternberg committed these crimes twenty-one years before his civil commitment hearing. Id. In contrast, this Court upheld a district court's finding of serious difficulty where an individual admitted that he had uncontrolled anger and rage and had to be moved to his own cell because he was "compulsively masturbating" within approximately two years of the State's petition to commit him civilly. In...