State v. Weekly, WD 61086.
| Decision Date | 25 March 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. WD 61086.,WD 61086. |
| Citation | 107 S.W.3d 340 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Appellant, v. Scotty J. WEEKLY, Respondent. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Attorney General, Greg A. Perry, Asst. Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Appellant.
Jon M. Krebbs, Liberty, MO, for Respondent.
Before ROBERT G. ULRICH, P.J., JAMES M. SMART, JR., and LISA WHITE HARDWICK, JJ.
The Department of Mental Health appeals the unconditional release pursuant to section 552.040 of Scotty J. Weekly. The Department contends that the trial court did not apply the correct standards in its decision. We agree that the trial court misapplied the law. The judgment is reversed.
Scotty J. Weekly was a chronic user of intravenous amphetamines. On September 8, 1994, Weekly was in a psychotic state. While under the delusion that his family was in danger, Weekly commandeered a vehicle. Weekly forced an individual at gunpoint, to drive him various places in search of his family. Weekly was arrested in Jackson County and charged with Felonious Restraint, Armed Criminal Action, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon. Exhibiting mental disturbances, Weekly was examined by Dr. James Sales, a psychiatrist at Fulton State Hospital. Dr. Sales diagnosed Weekly as having an Axis I condition of Vascular Dementia, with Delusions, and an Axis III diagnosis of Cerebral Vascular Accident.1
On December 5, 1995, Weekly pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to the charges against him. The Jackson County Circuit Court accepted his plea and committed Weekly to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health ("Department"). Weekly was placed at the Fulton State Hospital for treatment; he was later transferred to the Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center ("Northwest") in St. Joseph, Missouri.
In 1998, Weekly fled Northwest without permission of the Department. He left the State of Missouri but soon returned to Northwest voluntarily. At the time of his return, Weekly appeared to have an altered mental state. Weekly admitted to using illegal drugs while he was away from the facility.
Weekly applied for a conditional release from the Buchanan County Circuit Court in 2000. The purpose of a conditional release, as opposed to an unconditional release, is to give an opportunity to an insanity acquittee to demonstrate, under the conditions of the release, that he or she will not present a danger to self or others when reintegrated into the community. The return to the community is accomplished under conditions in order to test the thesis that the acquittee may be safely returned to society. The Department opposed the conditional release. The court ruled against the Department's position, granting Weekly a conditional release on November 13, 2000. Under the conditions of the release, Weekly was not allowed to own or operate a gun or a motor vehicle, not allowed to drink alcohol or use drugs of any kind not prescribed by a doctor, not allowed to leave the State of Missouri, not allowed to enter an establishment where the primary item for sale was alcohol, not allowed to associate with any-one who had a criminal record, and was required to attend two meetings a week of Alcoholic Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. Weekly was also not allowed to relocate or spend the night at a house that had not been approved by the Department. Any violations of the conditions could result in revocation of the conditional release.
The first conditional release was limited to six months. Apparently, Weekly successfully completed the first release. Weekly immediately applied for a second conditional release. The court granted Weekly a second conditional release on May 31, 2001. The term of the second conditional release was also six months. The restrictions imposed on Weekly for the second conditional release were similar to the terms of the first conditional release but were somewhat less restrictive. For example, the court allowed Weekly to own and operate a motor vehicle.
This time, Weekly was guilty of numerous violations of required conditions. On August 3, 2001, two months after the second release began, Weekly left the house he occupied with his wife and did not return. He instead drove to Kansas City and stayed with his parents. Though Weekly continued to keep in contact with the staff at Northwest in accordance with a condition of his release, he refused to reveal his location. The staff at Northwest directed Weekly to return to the facility. He did not comply.
While at his parent's house, Weekly did not attend Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Accompanied by his mother, Weekly drove to Topeka, Kansas, to inquire about treatment at a drug rehabilitation facility located there. Weekly was deemed not eligible for the program and returned to his parents' house.
Weekly's case manager contacted the police because Weekly had broken conditions of his release but refused to return to the facility voluntarily. Weekly was arrested and returned to Northwest on August 14, 2001. His elopement had lasted ten days. After initially refusing to provide a urine sample, Weekly submitted to a urine drug screen on August 16, 2001. The sample tested positive for both amphetamine and methamphetamine.
The Department conducted an administrative revocation hearing. Weekly was represented by counsel and had the opportunity to present evidence. The hearing officer determined that Weekly had violated five conditions of his release by (1) staying overnight with his parents in Kansas City, Missouri, without prior approval; (2) failing to attend an AA/NA meeting after August 3, 2001; (3) having a positive drug screen; (4) using an illegal drug; and (5) leaving the State of Missouri without permission from his Forensic Case Monitor.
The hearing officer revoked Weekly's conditional release on September 4, 2001:
Mr. Weekly testified during the hearing, that he finally realized, during his unauthorized absence, that he did need some type of therapy and counseling. Mr. Weekly does not believe that he would benefit from hospitalization and could receive treatment in the community.
Unfortunately, Mr. Weekly's epiphany came a bit too late. I truly hope that Mr. Weekly will receive the treatment that he needs. However, Mr. Weekly clearly violated several conditions of his release, and I must revoke the conditional release.
Weekly then soon filed an Application for Unconditional Release with the Circuit Court of Jackson County. Weekly averred that he did not have, and in the reasonable future was not likely to have, a mental disease or defect that rendered him either dangerous to himself or others, or unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. The Department and the State of Missouri filed objections.
The court conducted a hearing on December 20, 2001. Only one witness testified: Dr. James Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds, a psychiatrist at Northwest, had been treating Weekly since 1999. Reynolds testified that Weekly's initial diagnosis of dementia due to vascular accident had been changed at the time of his earlier hearing for conditional release to Axis I diagnoses of polysubstance abuse and episodic and amphetamine induced psychotic disorder with delusions. Weekly, who originally had exhibited signs of paralysis and problems with motor function, no longer exhibited such symptoms.2 At the time of the hearing for unconditional release, Weekly's Axis I diagnosis had changed yet again, now consisting of three disorders: adult antisocial behavior; polysubstance abuse, in remission in a controlled environment; and amphetamine-induced psychotic disorder with delusions, with onset during intoxication-recovered.
The Axis II disorder of antisocial personality disorder remained unchanged, as did the Axis III diagnosis, which included a number of physical disorders.
Reynolds testified that at the time Weekly was returned to the facility, he was not psychotic. He did, however, appear to be coming down from some type of drug use. Dr. Reynolds testified as follows:
Dr. Reynolds said he did not agree with unconditional release at this time because he likes to see the patient progress through ...
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