In re G.R.H.
| Citation | 711 N.W.2d 587,2006 ND 56 |
| Decision Date | 29 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 20040287.,20040287. |
| Parties | In the Matter of G.R.H. John P. Van Grinsven, III, Ward County State's Attorney, Petitioner and Appellee v. G.R.H., Respondent and Appellant. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Dakota |
John P. Van Grinsven III, State's Attorney, Minot, N.D., for petitioner and appellee.
Eric Paul Baumann, Minot, N.D., for respondent and appellant.
Jean R. Mullen, Office of Attorney General, Bismarck, N.D., for amicus curiae.
[¶ 1] G.R.H. appeals from an order involuntarily committing him to the care and custody of the executive director of the Department of Human Services as a sexually dangerous individual. He argues the evidence was insufficient to support the order, his commitment as a sexually dangerous individual violates the due process and double jeopardy provisions of the state and the federal constitutions, and the denial of a judicial determination of his least restrictive treatment also violates due process and double jeopardy. We affirm.
[¶ 2] In 1994, G.R.H., then 19 years old, was convicted in Ward County of gross sexual imposition for sexual acts with a victim less than fifteen years old and sentenced to ten years in the North Dakota State Penitentiary, with six years suspended. In 1997, G.R.H. was released from custody and placed on probation. In 1998, the court revoked G.R.H.'s probation for the gross sexual imposition conviction and ordered him incarcerated for 90 days, with the balance of his sentence suspended. Within 20 days after G.R.H. was released from custody in January 1999, he was charged in Burleigh County with corruption or solicitation of a minor for engaging in a sexual act with a minor who was older than 15 when he was at least 22; with delivery of alcohol to a minor; and with failure to register as a sexual offender. G.R.H. pled guilty to those charges, and the district court revoked his probation for the 1994 conviction for gross sexual imposition.
[¶ 3] Before G.R.H.'s release from custody in 2004, the Ward County State's Attorney petitioned to commit him as a sexually dangerous individual under N.D.C.C. ch. 25-03.3. The district court found probable cause to believe G.R.H. was a sexually dangerous individual and transferred him to the North Dakota State Hospital for further evaluation. See N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-11. G.R.H. was evaluated by two psychologists at the State Hospital, and he also received an independent evaluation by a third psychologist. See N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-12. After a subsequent commitment hearing under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-13, the district court decided G.R.H. was a sexually dangerous individual under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8), finding he "has engaged in sexually predatory conduct and has a congenital or acquired condition that is manifested by an anti-social personality disorder that makes [him] likely to engage in further acts of sexually predatory conduct which constitutes a danger to the physical or mental health or safety of others." The court committed G.R.H. to the care, custody, and control of the executive director of the Department of Human Services. See N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-13.
[¶ 4] G.R.H. appealed, and while his appeal was pending, we granted his motion for a remand to the district court for a supplemental hearing. At the supplemental hearing, G.R.H. argued committing him as a sexually dangerous individual was unconstitutional, given his diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder and his ability to control his behavior. He also argued he was unconstitutionally denied a judicial determination of his least restrictive treatment. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court confirmed its prior commitment order. The court construed N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8) to mean an individual subject to commitment as a sexually dangerous individual must have serious difficulty controlling his or her behavior. The court found G.R.H. suffers from a serious lack of ability to control his behavior, and confirmed its prior decision that he was a sexually dangerous individual. The court also construed N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-13 to require the executive director of the Department of Human Services, and not the court, to decide the least restrictive form of treatment for a sexually dangerous individual.
[¶ 5] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8 and N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-02. G.R.H.'s appeal is timely under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-19. This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, §§ 2 and 6, and N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-19.
[¶ 6] Chapter 25-03.3, N.D.C.C., authorizes the involuntary civil commitment of a sexually dangerous individual, which is defined in N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8) to mean:
[A]n individual who is shown to have engaged in sexually predatory conduct and who has a congenital or acquired condition that is manifested by a sexual disorder, a personality disorder, or other mental disorder or dysfunction that makes that individual likely to engage in further acts of sexually predatory conduct which constitute a danger to the physical or mental health or safety of others.
That definition requires three elements before a person may be involuntarily committed as a sexually dangerous individual: (1) the individual has engaged in sexually predatory conduct; (2) the individual has a congenital or acquired condition that is manifested by a sexual disorder, a personality disorder, or other mental disorder or dysfunction; and (3) the disorder makes the individual likely to engage in further acts of sexually predatory conduct which constitute a danger to the physical or mental health or safety of others. "Sexually predatory conduct" includes engaging in a sexual act or sexual contact with a victim less than fifteen years old, or with a minor victim when the actor is an adult. N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(9)(a)(4) and (7).
[¶ 7] G.R.H. does not dispute that an anti-social personality disorder is a personality disorder under the definition of a sexually dangerous individual in N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8). He argues, however, there is insufficient evidence he suffers from an anti-social personality disorder, because all three psychologists testified that a diagnosis of an anti-social personality disorder requires personality traits to be inflexible and all three psychologists acknowledged his behavior had improved in recent years. He claims his behavior at the State Hospital has been exemplary, and he has exhibited none of the patterns of behavior which form the basis for a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder while he has been at the State Hospital. He also claims a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder requires a pervasive pattern of disregard for rights to begin in childhood or early adolescence, and the only evidence that his behavior began in his childhood or early adolescence was that he ran away from home and had problems with his mother. He claims there is insufficient evidence he suffers from a personality disorder as required by N.D.C.C. § 25-03.3-01(8).
[¶ 8] We apply "a modified clearly erroneous" standard of review to commitments of sexually dangerous individuals under N.D.C.C. ch. 25-03.3. In the Interest of D.V.A., 2004 ND 57, ¶ 7, 676 N.W.2d 776; In the Interest of M.B.K., 2002 ND 25, ¶ 9, 639 N.W.2d 473; In the Interest of M.D., 1999 ND 160, ¶ 34, 598 N.W.2d 799. We will affirm a district court's commitment order unless the order is induced by an erroneous view of the law, or we are firmly convinced the order is not supported by clear and convincing evidence. D.V.A., at ¶ 7; M.B.K., at ¶ 9; M.D., at ¶ 34.
[¶ 9] At both evidentiary hearings, all three psychologists testified they diagnosed G.R.H. with an anti-social personality disorder. G.R.H.'s claim that his behavior had improved while in a controlled environment at the State Hospital does not preclude a finding of an anti-social personality disorder. His "improvement" may be laudable and eventually may lead to a determination that he is not a sexually dangerous individual, but the issue for the district court and this Court is whether this record adequately supports the diagnosis of an anti-social personality disorder. Under our modified clearly erroneous standard of review, we conclude the district court's finding is supported by clear and convincing evidence and is not clearly erroneous.
[¶ 10] G.R.H. nevertheless argues that, given his diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder and his ability to control his behavior, his commitment as a sexually dangerous individual violates the due process and double jeopardy provisions of the state and federal constitutions. G.R.H. argues his commitment violates due process and double jeopardy under Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346, 117 S.Ct. 2072, 138 L.Ed.2d 501 (1997) and Kansas v. Crane, 534 U.S. 407, 122 S.Ct. 867, 151 L.Ed.2d 856 (2002), because his only potential disorder is an anti-social personality disorder and there was no evidence he cannot control his behavior. Relying on Crane, he claims his diagnosis of an anti-social personality disorder is not distinguishable from the rudimentary form of that disorder found in the dangerous but typical recidivist convicted in an ordinary criminal case. He claims the evidence about his disorder does not establish a special and serious lack of ability to control his behavior under Crane.
[¶ 11] In Hendricks, the United States Supreme Court considered a substantive due process challenge to the provisions of Kansas' Sexually Violent Predator Act, which authorized involuntary civil commitment of persons who, due to a mental abnormality or a personality disorder, were likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence. 521 U.S. at 350, 117 S.Ct. 2072. The Court held the Act's definition of "mental abnormality" satisfied substantive due process. Id. at 356, 117 S.Ct. 2072. The Court said states may provide for involuntary civil commitment of people who are unable to control...
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