In The Matter Of B.T.G.

• Decision Date: 12 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-0921.,09-0921.
• Parties: In the Matter of B.T.G., Alleged to be Seriously Mentally Impaired,B.T.G., Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

784 N.W.2d 792

In the Matter of B.T.G., Alleged to be Seriously Mentally Impaired,

B.T.G., Respondent-Appellant.

No. 09-0921.

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

May 12, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Joan M. Black, Iowa City, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Gretchen Witte Kraemer, Assistant Attorney General, Janet Lyness, County Attorney, and Patricia Weir, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State.

Heard by SACKETT, C.J., and DOYLE and DANILSON, JJ.

DANILSON, J.

B.T.G. appeals from a district court order of continued commitment and placement in a mental hospital, pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 229 (2009). He contends there is insufficient evidence to support the court's finding that (1) he lacks sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions regarding his treatment, and (2) he currently presents a danger to himself or others. He further argues his counsel was ineffective in failing to subpoena several witnesses to testify as to his involvement in an altercation that occurred at the hospital. We affirm.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

In 2004 B.T.G. began serving a fifteen-year sentence for being a habitual offender ¹ at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (IMCC) in Oakdale. B.T.G. has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder bipolar type with borderline personality disorder traits, mild mental retardation, and has a long-standing history of substance abuse.²

While at IMCC, B.T.G. hurt an officer and tried to harm himself. B.T.G. was transferred to the Jasper County Jail in May 2007. Once there, B.T.G. engaged in numerous fights and spent most of his time in segregation. In January 2008, he was charged with assault on a correctional officer. He was transferred back to IMCC in April 2008. After the transfer, B.T.G.'s mental condition rapidly deteriorated. On the day he was transferred, B.T.G. experienced a major episode in which he broke the sprinkler head off the wall in his room, ripped his mattress apart, and screamed and kicked his door. He refused to take doctor-ordered medications and threatened to kill the staff and their children.

On May 2, 2008, the Iowa Department of Corrections Mental Health Director, Dr. Bruce Sieleni, filed an application to commit B.T.G. Following a hearing on May 6, 2008, the hospitalization referee entered an order determining that B.T.G. was seriously mentally impaired and required B.T.G. to undergo a complete psychiatric evaluation and appropriate treatment pursuant to Iowa Code section 229.3. The order also identified the placement facility as IMCC. The hospitalization referee's decision was affirmed on appeal by the district court.

On April 1, 2009, B.T.G. filed a pro se request for a placement hearing. The next day, April 2, his attorney filed an application for hearing on behalf of B.T.G.'s requesting a commitment review and placement review. A review hearing was held on April 7, and on the same day, the judicial hospitalization referee filed an order confirming placement and commitment of B.T.G. On May 5, 2009, B.T.G. filed a pro se notice of appeal of this order.

On May 26, 2009, the district court held a trial de novo, and on May 28 entered an order finding that B.T.G. suffered from a serious mental illness; lacked sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions with respect to his medical treatment or physical care; was likely to injure himself or others physically if released; and was in a placement that was both appropriate and the least restrictive. The court therefore dismissed B.T.G.'s appeal and stated that the referee's order filed April 7, 2009, which confirmed B.T.G.'s placement and commitment, should remain in full force and effect. B.T.G. filed a notice of appeal of the district court's ruling on June 9, 2009.

II. Jurisdiction.

The State contends the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction in this case because B.T.G. failed to appeal the referee's order within ten days as required by Iowa Code section 229.21(3)(d). A lack of subject matter jurisdiction can be raised at any stage in the proceedings. Klinge v. Bentien, 725 N.W.2d 13, 15 (Iowa 2006); Lloyd v. State, 251 N.W.2d 551, 556 (Iowa 1977). “It is elementary that the court's first duty is to determine its jurisdiction to entertain and decide a case on its merits.” Lloyd, 251 N.W.2d at 558. Once a court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over a claim, it has no power to enter a judgment on the merits and must dismiss the action. Id. “If a court enters a judgment without jurisdiction over the subject matter, the judgment is void and subject to collateral attack.” Klinge, 725 N.W.2d at 15.

Before Iowa Code chapter 229 was amended in 2001, our supreme court concluded that chapter 229 did not provide for a specific procedure for a patient to file an application to review the patient's continued commitment and placement except by a habeas corpus petition or commission inquiry proceedings. In re Melodie L., 591 N.W.2d 4, 9 (Iowa 1999); Iowa Code §§ 229.37, 229.31-.36. However, since the supreme court's decision in Melodie L., the Iowa Legislature amended chapter 229 to provide for a limited method to review a patient's placement in addition to a habeas corpus action. See Iowa Code §§ 229.14A, 229.21(3)(d).

Whenever an order is entered either fixing a patient's placement or transferring a patient's placement, the patient must be given notice of a right to request a placement hearing. Id. § 229.14A(1), (2). The request for a placement review hearing must be filed within seven days of the entry of the order, excluding weekends and official holidays. Id. § 229.14A(2), (6).

The record reflects that an order continuing B.T.G.'s placement was entered on March 23, 2009, after receipt of a chief medical officer's report dated March 19, 2009. The order also notifies B.T.G. of his right to a review hearing. Because we conclude that B.T.G.'s application was filed in conjunction with his right to a review hearing pursuant to section 229.14A(1) and (2), B.T.G.'s application was timely and properly filed to review his placement.

Unfortunately, after the referee held a placement review hearing on April 7, B.T.G.'s appeal to the district court was not timely filed within the ten-day period to appeal prescribed by section 229.21(3)(d). As a result, the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to consider the merits of B.T.G.'s appeal on his application for a placement review hearing, and we in turn have no jurisdiction to consider the merits of the appeal of the district court ruling as it relates to B.T.G.'s placement.

However, the application filed by B.T.G.'s attorney on April 2, 2009, also requested a review of the commitment of B.T.G. In Melodie L., our supreme court stated that an application requesting to be released from inpatient treatment should be treated as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Melodie L., 591 N.W.2d at 9 (citing Halverson v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 532 N.W.2d 794, 799 (Iowa 1995) (noting that a label attached to a motion does not determine its legal significance)).³ Although the recent amendments to chapter 229 might now permit the application filed in Melodie L. to be treated as an application for a placement review hearing, in this case, B.T.G.'s application filed April 2, 2009, clearly seeks a review of the continued commitment order in addition to B.T.G.'s placement. Thus, we conclude B.T.G.'s application also constituted a petition for writ of habeas corpus necessitating a review of his continued commitment.

As noted by our supreme court, a hospitalization referee does not have jurisdiction “to hear and determine habeas corpus petitions.” Id. at 9, n. 2. Thus, the hospitalization referee's order filed April 7, 2009, as it relates to B.T.G.'s continued commitment was beyond the referee's jurisdiction, and any delay in filing an appeal of such an order is inconsequential. ⁴ Because the district court tried the issue anew, we find the district court had subject matter jurisdiction to consider the issue of B.T.G.'s continued commitment as a habeas corpus proceeding and we have jurisdiction to consider the merits of B.T.G.'s instant appeal of that issue.

III. Civil Commitment.

An involuntary civil commitment proceeding is a special action that is triable to the court as an action at law. In re Oseing, 296 N.W.2d 797, 800-01 (Iowa 1980). Therefore, we review challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence for errors at law. See Iowa R.App. P. 6.907 (2009). The district court's findings of fact are binding upon this court if supported by substantial evidence. In re J.P., 574 N.W.2d 340, 342 (Iowa 1998). Evidence is substantial if a reasonable trier of fact could conclude the findings were established by clear and convincing evidence. Id. The continuation of an involuntary commitment requires the same impairment as ascribed to it by section 229.1(17), although reviewed in habeas corpus proceedings pursuant to section 229.37 B.A.A. v. Univ. of Iowa Hosps., 421 N.W.2d 118, 126 (Iowa 1988).

A person who has a “serious mental impairment” may be committed involuntarily. In determining whether a person has a serious mental impairment, the person must be found to have:

(1) a mental illness, consequently (2) to lack “sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions with respect to the person's hospitalization or treatment” and (3) to be likely, if allowed to remain at liberty, to inflict physical injury on “the person's self or others,” to inflict serious emotional injury on a designated class of persons, or be unable to satisfy the person's physical needs.

J.P., 574 N.W.2d at 342-43 (citations omitted); see also Iowa Code § 229.1(17). B.T.G. challenges the second and third elements.

The second element, judgmental capacity, “requires the State to prove that the person is unable because of the alleged mental illness, to make a rational decision about treatment, whether the decision is to seek treatment or not.” In re...