Patterson, In re

• Decision Date: 08 June 1978
• Docket Number: No. 44667,44667
• Citation: 90 Wn.2d 144,579 P.2d 1335
• Parties: In re the Detention of Roycroft PATTERSON. Donald F. ALLISON, M.D., and David C. Brose, Ph. D., Appellants. v. Roycroft PATTERSON, Respondent.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

Page 144

90 Wn.2d 144

579 P.2d 1335

In re the Detention of Roycroft PATTERSON Donald F. ALLISON, M.D., and David C. Brose, Ph. D., Appellants. v. Roycroft PATTERSON, Respondent.

No. 44667.

Supreme Court of Washington,En Banc.

June 8, 1978.

Christopher Bayley, Pros. Atty., Gerald A. Smith, Deputy Pros. Atty., Seattle, for appellants.

Jerome Doherty, Seattle, for respondent.

HOROWITZ, Justice.

This case involves the constitutionality of RCW 71.05.280(3) and .290(3), sections of the civil commitment statute which allow involuntary commitment for 90 days of persons found incompetent to stand trial for criminal charges. Respondent challenged a petition for his commitment under these sections on the ground the statutes violate equal protection and due process. The court below agreed and dismissed the petition for respondent's commitment. We reverse.

Respondent Roycroft Patterson was charged with two counts of burglary in the second degree after having twice broken into other people's homes. Each time he claimed he lived there or knew the owner. He was examined for competency to stand trial under RCW 10.77.060, which permits a 15-day commitment for this purpose. After an initial determination respondent was incompetent to stand trial, the criminal proceedings were stayed and respondent was committed to Western State Hospital for a 90-day period of evaluation and treatment pursuant to RCW 10.77.090, subsection (1). He did not gain competency during the first 90 days and was therefore committed for a second 90-day period under RCW 10.77.090(2). At the end of the second 90-day period, respondent was once again found incompetent. RCW 10.77.090(3) requires that criminal charges be dropped against any defendant found unlikely to regain competency within a reasonable period of time after the two 90-day periods of commitment for evaluation and treatment provided by subsections (1) and (2). Pursuant to subsection (3) the charges against respondent were dropped. Subsection (3) also provides, however, that the defendant may either be released or have civil commitment proceedings instituted against him. In this case, civil commitment proceedings were instituted against respondent. Only the constitutionality of those civil proceedings is now in question.

Civil commitment is governed by RCW 71.05. Under the normal procedure prescribed by that statute, a person may be initially detained for a 72-hour period of evaluation and treatment, during which time the staff of the treatment facility may petition the court for a 14-day detention pursuant to RCW 71.05.230. The petition may be granted only after a hearing at which the court must conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that the person "presents a likelihood of serious harm to others or himself, or is gravely disabled," and that less restrictive alternatives are not in the best interest of the individual or others. RCW 71.05.240. The commitment grounds of serious harm and grave disability require a finding of physical danger to self or others. See RCW 71.05.020(1), (3).

Following the 72-hour and 14-day detentions, a person civilly committed may be confined for a 90-day period of further treatment under RCW 71.05.280 and .290. These two sections also allow a 90-day commitment of persons found incompetent to stand trial under RCW 10.77.090(3), without initial 72-hour and 14-day periods of civil detention as necessary prerequisites. These are the two sections now challenged.

Under RCW 71.05.290(3), a person found incompetent to stand trial pursuant to RCW 10.77.090(3), as was respondent here, may be civilly committed for 90 days pursuant to a petition for such commitment filed by the professional in charge of the treatment facility. As pointed out above, no petitions for initial 72-hour and 14-day periods of detention need be filed. The grounds for commitment of these persons, unlike those for initial and shorter periods of civil commitment, do not involve a threat of physical danger to self or others. The grounds are stated in RCW 71.05.280(3):

(3) Such person is in custody because he has committed acts constituting a felony, and as a result of a mental disorder, presents a substantial likelihood of repeating similar acts. In any proceeding pursuant to this subsection it shall not be necessary to show intent, wilfulness, or state of mind as an element of the felony . . .

At the end of respondent Patterson's second 90-day period of detention for evaluation and treatment under RCW 10.77, the professionals in charge of Western State Hospital filed a petition for his 90-day civil commitment pursuant to RCW 71.05.290(3). The petition stated respondent was in custody because he had committed acts constituting a felony and, as a result of his disorder, he presented a substantial likelihood of repeating similar acts. The petition also stated there are no less restrictive alternatives to detention in respondent's best interest, and that, "if not held in a structured setting, he could easily become involved in criminal acts to meet his needs." The affidavit accompanying the petition sets out the diagnosis of respondent's illness as schizophrenia, chronic and undifferentiated, and describes the symptoms of his illness as "a fixed delusional system." The affidavit states again the opinion of the staff psychologist and psychiatrist that "this man's perplexity and confusion is such that if he were not in a structured setting, he could easily become involved in criminal acts to meet his needs." Respondent filed a motion to dismiss the petition.

At a November 1976 hearing the criminal charges against respondent were dismissed pursuant to RCW 10.77.090(3), as noted above, because of his continued incompetency to stand trial. The order of dismissal included a conclusion respondent should be detained pending civil commitment proceedings. The court then immediately considered respondent's motion to dismiss the petition for his civil commitment. The staff psychiatrist of Western State Hospital testified regarding respondent's illness, his opinion that less restrictive treatment is not appropriate, and his opinion that respondent would not physically harm anyone. After oral argument, the court below entered an order dismissing the petition on the ground that RCW 71.05.280(3) and .290(3) are unconstitutional. Respondent Patterson was released. The hospital officials appeal from this order.

This court was informed at oral argument that respondent Patterson was at that time committed in a California state mental hospital. He had been committed after being found incompetent to stand trial on arson charges stemming from an incident in California in January 1977. The issue here is therefore moot with regard to respondent Patterson. Nonetheless, this court will review an otherwise moot case if matters of continuing and substantial interest are involved. Northwest Trollers Ass'n v. Moos, 89 Wash.2d 1, 568 P.2d 793 (1977); Hartman v. State Game Comm'n, 85 Wash.2d 176, 532 P.2d 614 (1975); Sorenson v. Bellingham, 80 Wash.2d 547, 496 P.2d 512 (1972). Under the criteria set out in Hartman v. State Game Comm'n, supra, this case is appropriate for review because it presents a question of a public nature which is likely to recur, and for which an authoritative determination now is desirable for the future guidance of public officers. We therefore decide the case on its merits. In view of these unusual circumstances, the argument made by appellants that respondent Patterson has no standing is irrelevant.

Counsel for respondent first contends RCW 71.05.290(3) violates equal protection by treating persons found incompetent to stand trial differently from other persons subject to civil commitment proceedings. Specifically, persons detained initially under the civil commitment statute must be found to be physically dangerous, and may be subject to a 90-day commitment only after the initial 72-hour and 14-day detentions. Persons in respondent's class, on the other hand, may be civilly committed for 90 days upon petition by the proper officials without the need for the initial and shorter civil detention periods, and without finding they are physically dangerous to themselves or others. This different treatment, it is argued, deprives persons in respondent's class of substantial protections. It is further argued that the basis for the different treatment of these persons is the fact that criminal charges have been filed against them, and that this alone is insufficient reason for different treatment. Finally this court is urged to apply strict scrutiny to the classification because the freedom of persons subject to the statute is at stake.

We believe the rational relationship test is the proper test to apply to this statute to determine the equal protection issues raised. Courts have uniformly applied the rational relationship test to the statutes creating differing classes of persons for purposes of involuntary commitment statutes. See Dorsey v. Solomon, 435 F.Supp. 725 (D.Md.1977); French v. Blackburn, 428 F.Supp. 1351 (M.D.N.C.1977); Lynch v. Baxley, 386 F.Supp. 378 (M.D.Ala.1974); Vecchione v. Wohlgemuth, 377 F.Supp. 1361 (E.D.Pa.1974). The United States Supreme Court impliedly used the rational relationship test in Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715, 724, 92 S.Ct. 1845, 32 L.Ed.2d 435 (1972) when it looked for a "conceivable basis" for a distinction. A federal district court interpreted Jackson as using the rational relationship test in French v. Blackburn, supra. Counsel for respondent cites no case, and we have found none, applying the strict scrutiny test to involuntary commitment procedures. Our inquiry is therefore whether the distinction made bears a rational relationship to a legitimate purpose of the State.

Applying that standard, we find no equal protection violation here. Persons subject to the special procedures for the 90-day commitment under RCW 71.05.290(3) have been detained...