In re Detention of Shaffer

• Decision Date: 17 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 08-1358.,08-1358.
• Parties: In re the DETENTION OF Gelen Kendrick SHAFFER Galen Kendrick Shaffer, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

769 N.W.2d 169

In re the DETENTION OF Gelen Kendrick SHAFFER Galen Kendrick Shaffer, Appellee.

No. 08-1358.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

July 17, 2009.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Linda J. Hines and Becky Goettsch, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellant.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Michael H. Adams, Assistant Public Defender, for appellee.

CADY, Justice.

In this appeal, we must decide if the district court properly dismissed the State's petition seeking the civil commitment of Galen Kendrick Shaffer as a sexually violent predator. The district court determined Shaffer was not presently confined as required by the Sexually Violent Predator Act and dismissed the petition. Upon our review, we reverse the decision of the district court and remand the case for further proceedings to determine whether Shaffer is a sexually violent predator.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

This case arises from a petition for the civil commitment of Galen Kendrick Shaffer filed by the State under Iowa Code chapter 229A (2007)¹, the Sexually Violent Predator Act. In 1991, Shaffer was adjudicated to have committed a delinquent sexual act as a minor. Four years later, he was convicted as an adult of three counts of sexual abuse in the second degree. He was sentenced to three concurrent indeterminate terms of incarceration not to exceed twenty-five years.

Shaffer was committed to the custody of the Iowa Department of Corrections to serve his indeterminate term of incarceration. See Iowa Code § 902.3 (providing that a court sentencing a felon other than a class "A" felon to confinement "shall commit the person into the custody of the director of the Iowa department of corrections for an indeterminate term"). While Shaffer remained in the custody of the Iowa Department of Corrections, he was eligible to earn a reduction of his sentence based upon his behavior. See Iowa Code § 903A.2. The statutes governing reduction of sentences were amended multiple times during Shaffer's confinement,² and on numerous occasions the department calculated Shaffer's release date by applying the amendments and other factors. The last discharge date calculated by the department prior to the dispute raised in this case was July 2008. Shaffer never challenged the calculation of his discharge dates before the State filed the petition for civil commitment at issue in this appeal.³

The State filed the petition for civil commitment on October 9, 2007. The petition alleged Shaffer was in state custody and probable cause existed to believe he was a sexually violent predator. Shaffer was in prison in the state penitentiary at Anamosa at the time. Shaffer then filed two applications for postconviction relief. On October 19, 2007, Shaffer filed an application for postconviction relief in Jones County, where the Anamosa State Penitentiary is located. On October 24, 2007, Shaffer filed a second application for postconviction relief in Black Hawk County, where he was convicted of sexual abuse in the second degree in 1995.

The two applications for postconviction relief alleged identical grounds for relief. Shaffer alleged his sentence had expired, he was otherwise unlawfully held, and "[t]ime [was] unlawfully forfeited pursuant to procedures of Iowa Code chapter 903A." Shaffer asserted his sentence was extended by application of amendments to the statute governing reduction of sentence, Iowa Code § 903A.2, in violation of the Ex Post Facto and Due Process Clauses of the federal and state constitutions. Neither application for postconviction relief explicitly addressed the State's petition for civil commitment.

The district court in Jones County held application of the amendments to section 903A.2 to Shaffer violated the Ex Post Facto Clause because the new statutory provision governing the reduction of sentences made the punishment for Shaffer's prior criminal conduct more onerous.

The district court in Black Hawk County held a probable cause hearing on the State's petition for civil commitment, together with a hearing on the application for postconviction relief. Shaffer asserted the district court had no subject matter jurisdiction to hear the State's petition for civil commitment because he was not "presently confined" under section 229A.4. He claimed he was not "presently confined" because he should have been discharged in September 2007 under the applicable version of section 903A.2, prior to the time the petition was filed.

The district court in Black Hawk County held application of the amendment to section 903A.2 to Shaffer violated Shaffer's rights under the Ex Post Facto Clause. It also held the State failed to timely file the petition for civil commitment because Shaffer should have been released under the applicable law before the State filed its petition. As a result, the district court granted summary judgment on Shaffer's application for postconviction relief and dismissed the state's petition for civil commitment.⁴

The State filed an appeal from the order by the district court dismissing its petition for civil commitment.⁵ The only issue we review is whether Shaffer was presently confined under Iowa Code section 229A.4.⁶

II. Standard of Review.

The scope of review of this legal question is for errors at law. Iowa R.App. P. 6.907 (2009). We have reviewed previous constructions of the provisions of chapter 229A for corrections of errors of law. See In re Det. of Willis, 691 N.W.2d 726, 728 (Iowa 2005). To the extent Shaffer raises constitutional issues, our review is de novo. Id.

III. Statutory "Presently Confined" Requirement.

The Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVP Act) plots two separate courses for the civil commitment of a sexually violent predator. See Iowa Code § 229A.4 (providing certain criteria to commence proceedings to commit "a person presently confined" and separate criteria to commence proceedings to commit "a person who has committed a recent overt act"). Only the first option is implicated in this case because the State does not allege a recent overt act other than the act constituting the basis for Shaffer's conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree. Under the first option,

If it appears that a person presently confined may be a sexually violent predator and the prosecutor's review committee has determined that the person meets the definition of a sexually violent predator, the attorney general may file a petition alleging that the person is a sexually violent predator and stating sufficient facts to support such an allegation.

Id. § 229A.4(1).

The district court held Shaffer's sentence expired under the applicable law before the State filed its petition for civil commitment, and therefore, Shaffer was not "presently confined" as required by section 229A.4 of the SVP Act. The State argues Shaffer was presently confined, whether properly or not, when it filed the petition for civil commitment.

Ultimately, the issue presented in this case requires us to interpret the statutory phrase "presently confined." Consequently, our role is to determine the intent of the legislature. State v. Sluyter, 763 N.W.2d 575, 581 (Iowa 2009). A host of rules exist to assist in this task. See Iowa Code § 4.6. In this case, the primary rule we rely upon is that statutes are interpreted consistent with the common law and with other laws pertaining to similar subjects. Id. § 4.6(4); Schaer v. Webster County, 644 N.W.2d 327, 336 (Iowa 2002).

This is not the first time we have considered whether the person named in a petition for civil commitment was "presently confined" at the time of the petition for the purposes of chapter 229A. In the case In re Detention of Gonzales, 658 N.W.2d 102 (Iowa 2003), the State petitioned for civil commitment of an individual while he was incarcerated for operating a motor vehicle without the owner's consent. Gonzales, 658 N.W.2d at 102-03. We interpreted the term "presently confined" in chapter 229A to require the confinement to be for a sexually violent offense. Id. at 104. We reasoned that a contrary construction would not be just or reasonable, in part, because it would allow the State to rely on trivial offenses to start the civil commitment process. Id. at 104-05. As a result, we dismissed the petition for civil commitment. Id. at 106.

Shaffer argues he was not confined for a sexually violent offense at the time of the State's petition, as required by Gonzales. Instead, he maintains he was held unlawfully in violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause at the time the State petitioned for civil commitment. The State acknowledges that our recent decision in State v. Iowa District Court, 759 N.W.2d 793 (Iowa 2009), resolves the ex post facto issue in Shaffer's favor, but argues Shaffer was nonetheless "presently confined" for purposes of the SVP Act.

There is no doubt Shaffer was imprisoned at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in the custody of the department of corrections on October 9, 2007, when the State filed the petition for civil commitment. He was in the custody of the department as a result of the manner the department calculated the reductions of his indeterminate twenty-five year sentence. The calculations were based on the department's interpretation of two amendments to section 229A enacted after Shaffer was incarcerated.

There is likewise no dispute that the department of corrections is charged with "control, treatment, and rehabilitation of offenders committed under law to" the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Iowa Code § 904.102. Each offender committed to the custody of the department is eligible to earn a reduction of sentence as provided by statute, id. § 903A.2, and the director of the department of corrections is tasked with developing rules to implement the reduction of sentences, id. § 903A.4. The department of corrections generated an earned time report for Shaffer reflecting the number of credits earned and the amount of time remaining on his sentence. See id...