In re Tripp

Citation915 N.W.2d 867
Decision Date13 April 2018
Docket NumberNo. 16-2141,16-2141
Parties IN RE the DETENTION OF Ronald TRIPP, Ronald Tripp, Appellant.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Jill Eimermann, Assistant Public Defender, Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Tyler J. Buller and Keisha F. Cretsinger, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.

APPEL, Justice.

As in State v. Wygle , 910 N.W.2d 599 (Iowa 2018), this appeal involves the relationship between Iowa Code chapter 229A (2016), which provides for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators, and Iowa Code chapter 903B, which imposes a special sentence on persons convicted of certain sexual offenses.

Ronald Tripp claims in this case that he was unlawfully committed as a sexually violent predator (SVP). Tripp asserts the State failed to prove either that he was presently confined for a sexually violent offense under Iowa Code section 229A.4(1) or that he committed a recent overt act under Iowa Code section 229A.4(2). As a result, Tripp asserts, the district court erred in refusing to dismiss the SVP commitment proceeding against him. In the alternative, Tripp claims the district court improperly allowed an expert witness to be a conduit for the admission of hearsay evidence at the SVP hearing.

For the reasons expressed below, we reverse the district court. Because we hold that the district court erred in not granting the motion to dismiss, we do not address the hearsay issue with respect to the expert witness testimony.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

A. Original Conviction for a Sexually Violent Offense, Revocation of Probation, and Discharge of Prison Sentence. In 2010, Tripp was convicted of indecent contact with a child, a sexually violent offense under Iowa Code section 229A.2(10)(a ) (2009). The district court placed Tripp on probation. The district court also imposed a ten-year special sentence pursuant to Iowa Code section 903B.2.

In 2011, Tripp was charged with failing to abide by the requirements of the sex offender registry under Iowa Code section 692A.113 (2011) and for harassment under Iowa Code section 708.7(1)(b ). Ultimately, Tripp pled guilty to three aggravated misdemeanors for sex offender exclusion zone violations and three simple misdemeanors for harassment. Tripp’s probation was revoked and he was incarcerated. Tripp discharged his sentence and was released from prison in June 2012.

Upon the completion of his sentence for his underlying offense, Tripp began serving his ten-year special sentence under Iowa Code section 903B.2. Under Iowa Code section 903B.2, a person subject to a special sentence is placed on the corrections continuum under Iowa Code chapter 901B and is subject to the procedures set out in Iowa Code chapters 901B, 905, 906, and 908 and the rules adopted under these provisions for persons on parole. Id. § 903B.2.

B. Revocation of Release Under Iowa Code Section 903B.2. In May of 2013, Tripp was charged with assault with attempt to commit sexual abuse. The State dismissed the criminal charge but pursued revocation of Tripp’s release under Iowa Code section 903B.2.

On October 11, 2013, a hearing was held before an administrative parole judge. After receiving evidence, the administrative parole judge revoked his release. In a brief order, the administrative parole judge noted that the burden of proof born by the state in a parole revocation hearing was a preponderance of evidence. The administrative parole judge came to the conclusion that facts stated in a department of corrections violation report were correct and adopted them wholesale as findings of fact. As a result, the administrative parole judge revoked Tripp’s release and ordered Tripp to serve a two-year sentence as provided in Iowa Code section 903B.2 (2013).

C. Subsequent SVP Proceedings.

1. Two-pronged petition. Before Tripp was discharged from his two year incarceration under Iowa Code section 903B.2, the State filed a petition seeking civil commitment of Tripp as an SVP under Iowa Code chapter 229A. The State alleged Tripp was presently confined at the time of the filing of the petition under Iowa Code section 229A.4(1). The State also alleged that Tripp had committed a recent overt act under Iowa Code section 229A.4(2). A district court judge found probable cause and the matter was scheduled for trial.

2. Pretrial motions. Prior to his trial, Tripp filed a motion to dismiss and a motion in limine. The district court held a hearing on the motions prior to trial.

At the pretrial hearing the day of trial, Tripp argued that the SVP petition must be dismissed. Tripp noted the State must prove the elements of either of the two SVP tracks "beyond a reasonable doubt." He focused his fire on the allegation in the State’s petition that Tripp was presently confined for purposes of Iowa Code section 229A.4(1). Tripp suggested the State had problems with its criminal prosecution and proceeded with "the easier route" of a parole revocation where the rules of evidence are relaxed and the burden of proof is lower. He argued that the record developed at the parole hearing included only the deposition of the alleged victim, the deposition of a police officer, the victim’s impact statement, and a letter with the testimony of Tripp denying the charges. Thus, while Tripp conceded he was confined at the time of the SVP hearing, it was not because of the conviction for his 2010 offense or the offense charged in 2013, which was ultimately dismissed. Instead, according to Tripp, he was being confined because of a violation of his special sentence under Iowa Code chapter 903B.

According to Tripp, "[a] special sentence is not the same as being on probation or parole." Tripp noted that for a violation of a special sentence, regardless of severity, the penalty is the same, namely a two-year incarceration for a first violation and a five-year incarceration for subsequent violations. Tripp asserted the two-year/five-year regime established by Iowa Code chapter 903B was "arbitrary" and "fundamentally different" than a return to prison to serve all or part of an underlying criminal sentence.

The State responded that under existing caselaw, a person convicted of a qualifying offense is still being punished for that offense by a special sentence under Iowa Code chapter 903B. See State v. Harkins , 786 N.W.2d 498, 505 (Iowa Ct. App. 2009). The State advanced what amounted to a cause-in-fact argument—Tripp would not have been subject to Iowa Code chapter 903B special sentence but for his conviction of a sex offense in 2010. As a result, Tripp was presently confined as a result of his original 2010 offense. The State asserted that authorities from other jurisdictions supported its view that a person who is on parole and then returned to prison may be subject to SVP commitment. See People v. Felix , 169 Cal.App.4th 607, 87 Cal.Rptr.3d 482, 490 (2008) ; Barber v. State , 988 So.2d 1170, 1178 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2008) ; In re Commitment of Bush , 283 Wis.2d 90, 699 N.W.2d 80, 92 (2005).

Further, the State argued, even if Tripp was not presently confined, the SVP petition could be supported under the overt-act prong of the statute. With respect to the overt-act theory, at the hearing on the motion to dismiss the State offered into evidence a parole violation report, Exhibit 5; documentation of the dismissed case that was submitted as evidence in the parole violation hearing, Exhibit 7; and the parole revocation order, Exhibit 8. Tripp did not object to the offer of Exhibits 5 and 8, but objected to Exhibit 7 as containing impermissible hearsay. The State responded, in part, by offering two discs, Exhibit 6A and 6B, which contained testimony presented at the parole hearing. The district court accepted the exhibits for purposes of the motion in limine, but with the clear admonition that they must be reoffered for any purpose at trial.

The district court declined to rule on the motion to dismiss, taking the motion under advisement. The district court next took up the motion in limine.

Tripp argued that under our decision in In re Detention of Stenzel , 827 N.W.2d 690 (Iowa 2013), certain types of evidence, such as testifying from police reports or testifying from minutes of testimony, are not admissible. Thus, Tripp argued, this type of evidence from the 2013 charges that were ultimately dismissed could not be admitted. While Tripp pled guilty to three simple misdemeanor offenses in 2011, he argued they were not sexually violent offenses and any hearsay related to them should be excluded under Stenzel , 827 N.W.2d at 710.

Tripp also sought to prevent the State’s experts from using police generated hearsay in forming their opinions. To the extent any such information might be admissible under Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.703, Tripp noted that rule 5.403 requiring the exclusion of prejudicial, confusing, misleading, delaying, time wasting, or needlessly cumulative evidence can override any such admission.

While an administrative parole judge found that Tripp had violated his special parole, Tripp argued, administrative agency findings were not admissible under State v. Huston , 825 N.W.2d 531, 539 (Iowa 2013), and Goodwin v. State , 585 N.W.2d 749, 753 (Iowa Ct. App. 1998). Tripp again asserted that the administrative parole judge applied a lower standard of proof than is required under Iowa Code chapter 229A.

The State responded by characterizing Stenzel as standing only for the proposition that it cannot create its own evidence and that, as a result, documents prepared by the prosecution, such as charges or minutes of testimony, should not be admitted when the charges have been dismissed. But, the State argued, the reach of Stenzel was limited in several important respects.

First, the State suggested, the details of the offenses may be admitted from other sources, such as admissions of the defendant. Specifically, the State argued that Tripp had admitted the allegations in the harassment...

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7 cases
  • R.M. v. D.S.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Iowa
    • October 6, 2021
    ...is a routine practice in bench trials to reserve ruling on objections until later. See In re Det. of Tripp , 915 N.W.2d 867, 879 (Iowa 2018) (Mansfield, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). The court disregarded R.M's hearsay testimony when granting the protective order. We find ......
  • R.M. v. D.S.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Iowa
    • October 6, 2021
    ......But it is a routine practice in. bench trials to reserve ruling on objections until later. See In re Det. of Tripp , 915 N.W.2d 867,. 879 (Iowa 2018) (Mansfield, J., concurring in part and. dissenting in part). The court disregarded R.M's hearsay. ......
  • In re Martin
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Iowa
    • September 11, 2019
    ...the "recent overt acts" and the filing of the petition, that timeframe is virtually identical to the timeframe in In re Detention of Tripp , 915 N.W.2d 867, 869 (Iowa 2018), where the apparent passage of close to two years from the "recent" overt act to the filing of the SVP petition was no......
  • In re Detention of Millikin
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Iowa
    • May 26, 2021
    ...Standard of Review We review the district court's ruling on the motion to dismiss for correction of legal errors. In re Det. of Tripp, 915 N.W.2d 867, 873 (Iowa 2018).III. Discussion Millikin argues the second petition is barred by res judicata because the substantive allegations in the sec......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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