State v. Ambaye

• Decision Date: 29 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. C9-98-2221.,C9-98-2221.
• Citation: 616 N.W.2d 256
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, petitioner, Appellant, v. Ammanuel AMBAYE, Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

616 N.W.2d 256

STATE of Minnesota, petitioner, Appellant, v. Ammanuel AMBAYE, Respondent.

No. C9-98-2221.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

June 29, 2000.

Michael Hatch, Minnesota Attorney General, St. Paul, Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, Beverly J. Benson, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Maureen Williams, Law Office of Maureen Williams, Minneapolis, for respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

BLATZ, Chief Justice.

This case began with respondent's petition for the expungement of his criminal record. The district court concluded that respondent was not entitled to expungement under either the expungement statute or the court's inherent power to expunge. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for the entry of an expungement order under the expungement statute. We hold that a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity does not satisfy the legal threshold that would entitle a petitioner to a presumption of expungement under the statute. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals. We also affirm the district court's refusal to grant respondent an expungement order under that court's inherent power.

Respondent Ammanuel Ambaye was indicted in 1973 for the first-degree murder of his roommate. The jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity.¹ Following the jury verdict, respondent was civilly committed to the Minnesota Security Hospital, and subsequently transferred to the St. Peter State Hospital in St. Peter, Minnesota. In total, respondent was committed for approximately five years. After being provisionally discharged from the hospital, respondent moved to Mankato, where he lived in a halfway house and studied for and received a master's of science in criminal justice.

In May 1998, respondent petitioned the district court to expunge the records of his first-degree murder indictment and prosecution. He stated then, and still maintains, that he has lost several social work positions, has been denied an apartment lease, and has been removed from direct client contact several times due to his criminal record.

There are two legal bases that provide for the expungement of criminal records: Minn.Stat. ch. 609A (the expungement statute) and a court's inherent expungement power. See generally State v. C.A., 304 N.W.2d 353, 358 (Minn.1981)

; In re R.L.F., 256 N.W.2d 803, 807-08 (Minn. 1977). The Minnesota expungement statute allows for the expungement of criminal records in certain circumstances. See Minn.Stat. § 609A.02 (1998). Relevant to this case is the statute's recognition of a petition for expungement if all pending actions and proceedings were "resolved in favor of the petitioner." Minn.Stat. § 609A.02, subd. 3 (1998). The statute specifically states that if the actions and proceedings were resolved "in favor of the petitioner," he or she is presumptively entitled to expungement "unless the agency or jurisdiction whose records would be affected establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the interests of the public and public safety outweigh the disadvantages to the petitioner of not sealing the record." Minn.Stat. §§ 609A.02, subd. 3; 609A.03, subd. 5(b) (1998).

In addition to statutory expungement under chapter 609A, Minnesota courts also have the inherent power to expunge criminal records in two situations. First, courts may use their inherent expungement power "where the petitioner's constitutional rights may be seriously infringed by retention of his records." R.L.F., 256 N.W.2d at 807-08. Second, when a petitioner's constitutional rights are not involved, "the court must decide whether expungement will yield a benefit to the petitioner commensurate with the disadvantages to the public from the elimination of the record and the burden on the court in issuing, enforcing and monitoring an expungement order." C.A., 304 N.W.2d at 358.

In the instant case, the district court concluded that respondent's not guilty by reason of insanity verdict was not a determination "in favor of" respondent, and thus he was not entitled to a presumption of expungement under chapter 609A. In addition, the district court declined to use its inherent authority to grant the petition because it concluded that the benefits respondent might gain through expungement were not as great as the detriments to the public that might result from the same. The court of appeals reversed, holding that respondent's verdict was a determination in favor of him. See State v. Ambaye, 596 N.W.2d 668, 670 (Minn.App.1999)

. Unlike the district court, the court of appeals also performed the statutory balancing test provided in section 609A.03, subd. 5(b), and concluded that respondent is entitled to expungement. See Ambaye, 596 N.W.2d at 670-71. Having decided that respondent was entitled to expungement under the expungement statute, the court of appeals did not reach the question of whether respondent was also entitled to expungement under the court's inherent power. See id. at 671.

I.

This case presents the question of whether a jury verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is a resolution "in favor of" respondent for purposes of the expungement statute. The proper construction of a statute is a question of law that we review de novo. See State v. Ronquist, 600 N.W.2d 444, 447 (Minn.1999)

. Section 609A.02, subd. 3 contains a legal threshold that must be met before a petitioner can have his need for expungement weighed against "the interests of the public and public safety." Minn.Stat. § 609A.03, subd. 5(b). "A petition may be filed under section 609A.03 to seal all records relating to an arrest, indictment or information, trial, or verdict * * * if all pending actions or proceedings were resolved in favor of the petitioner." Minn.Stat. § 609A.02, subd. 3 (emphasis added). Once this requirement is met, the petitioner has a presumption of expungement that can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence that the public's interest in having the criminal records available outweighs the petitioner's interest in expungement. See Minn.Stat. § 609A.03, subd. 5(b).

Construction of the expungement statute is a matter of first impression. However, this court has decided cases under another statute, Minn.Stat. § 299C.11 (1980), which contained nearly identical "in favor of" language. See State v. M.C., 304 N.W.2d 362, 364 (Minn.1981)

; C.A., 304 N.W.2d at 357 n. 3; City of St. Paul v. Froysland, 310 Minn. 268, 272-76 246 N.W.2d 435, 437-39 (1976). Minnesota Statutes § 299C.11 (1980) did not provide for the expungement of criminal records, but did permit one to demand the return of all identification data such as fingerprints and photographs, "[u]pon the determination of all pending criminal actions or proceedings in favor of the arrested person." Minn.Stat. § 299C.11 (1980) (emphasis added).² Therefore, a brief discussion of the cases involving section 299C.11 is instructive in understanding the statutory language set forth in section 609A.02, subd. 3.

In City of St. Paul v. Froysland, the first case construing section 299C.11's "in favor of" language, this court held that a dismissal of charges following a stay of imposition of sentence is not a determination "in favor of" the accused. See Froysland, 310 Minn. at 276, 246 N.W.2d at 439. In that case, a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor following a guilty plea was told by the district court judge that if she committed no offenses for six months the conviction would be vacated and the charges dismissed. See id. at 274, 246 N.W.2d at 438. In Froysland, this court reasoned that "in favor of" under section 299C.11(b) could not encompass a disposition in which the defendant pleaded guilty, even if the charges were later dismissed. Id. at 275, 246 N.W.2d at 439.

Two other cases construing the statutory language of section 299C.11 serve to further define the scope of "in favor of." In State v. M.C., the appellant was found not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. 304 N.W.2d at 363. We concluded that a verdict of not guilty was a determination in favor of the appellant. See id. at 364. The second case, State v. C.A., presented the question whether a conviction for consensual sodomy which was set aside by this court was a resolution "in favor of" appellant. 304 N.W.2d at 355. The conviction was set aside pursuant to a stipulation between the state and the defense, the charges were dropped, and appellant was never subsequently retried. See id. at 357 n. 3. We concluded that a voluntary dismissal of charges was a determination "in favor of" an appellant. See id. Therefore, the scope of "in favor of" under section 299C.11 includes verdicts of not guilty and voluntary dismissals, and does not include resolutions where the defendant pleaded guilty.

Here, in concluding that a jury verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is not a determination "in favor of" respondent, the district court relied on a decision of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Commonwealth v. W.P., 417 Pa.Super. 192, 612 A.2d 438 (1992). In W.P., the question was whether a person found not guilty by reason of insanity was entitled to expungement under the court's inherent expungement power. See id. at 440. The court of appeals correctly determined that the district court's reliance on W.P. was misplaced as the Pennsylvania Superior Court was not construing a statute but rather addressing expunction as a judicial remedy. See Ambaye, 596 N.W.2d at 670

.

In contrast to the district court, the court of appeals analyzed the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity within a double jeopardy framework, concluding that the verdict is a determination "in favor of" respondent. See id. at 670. The court of appeals reasoned that because a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity arguably prevents the state from retrying a defendant for the same crime, the verdict "at least approaches the status of an acquittal for double jeopardy purposes." Id....