U.S. v. Woods, Civil No. 4-87-553.
| Decision Date | 27 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | Civil No. 4-87-553. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner, v. Wendell WOODS, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Friedrich Siekert, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for Petitioner.
Andrew Mohring, U.S. Public Defenders Office, Minneapolis, MN, for Respondent.
This matter is before the Court upon Respondent's objections to United States Magistrate John M. Mason's Report and Recommendation dated January 6, 1997 granting the Petitioner's Motion for Revocation of Conditional Discharge and for Placement at FMC-Rochester and Amended Petition for Revocation of Conditional Release.
Pursuant to statute, the Court has conducted a de novo review of the record. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Local Rule 72.1(c). Based on that review of the files, records and submissions of counsel, the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the Petitioner's Motion for Revocation of Conditional Discharge and for Placement at FMC-Rochester [Docket No. 49] and Amended Petition for Revocation of Conditional Release [Docket No. 54] is granted. The Petitioner is remanded to the custody of the Attorney General for hospitalization at FMC-Rochester.
The Respondent Wendell Woods was originally committed for hospitalization pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d) in 1987. He was discharged subject to conditions in March 1994, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(e)(2)(A) and (B). This matter came before the Court on November 5, 1996 and December 19, 1996 for hearing on Petitioner's (1) Motion for Revocation of Conditional Discharge and for Placement at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota ("FMC-Rochester") [Docket No. 49] and (2) Amended Petition for Revocation of Conditional Release Granted Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246 [Docket No. 54].
Friedrich Siekert, Esq., appeared on behalf of the United States of America; Andrew Mohring, Esq., appeared on behalf of Wendell Woods, who was personally present at both of the evidentiary hearings. To revoke a person's conditional release, the government must show that the Respondent violated the terms of his conditional release, and that he poses "a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another." 18 U.S.C. § 4246(f). The first hearing addressed whether Respondent violated the terms of his conditional release, and the second hearing focused on whether Respondent poses a danger to society. See Order and Memorandum (Nov. 6, 1996).
Based upon all of the files, records, and proceedings, the Court finds that Respondent has violated the terms of his conditional release by failing to comply with his prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment. In particular, the Respondent left the Gateways Community Treatment Center of the Gateways Hospital and Mental Health Center in Los Angeles, California without permission on or about August 5, 1994 in direct violation of the court order granting Respondent's conditional release. The Court also finds that, "in light of his failure to comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric or psychological care or treatment," his continued release would create "a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another." 18 U.S.C. § 4246(f).
This Court recommends that the Petitioner's Motion for Revocation of Conditional Discharge and for Placement at FMC-Rochester [Docket No. 49] and Amended Petition for Revocation of Conditional Release Granted Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246 [Docket No. 54] be granted. The Respondent's conditional discharge granted in March 1994 should be revoked and the Respondent should remain committed for hospitalization at FMC-Rochester.
Under federal law, a person whose sentence is about to expire may be committed for hospitalization pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d). If the requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d) are met, the hospitalized person will remain in the custody of the United States even after the expiration of his sentence. That section, which requires the court to hold an evidentiary hearing, provides:
"If, after the hearing, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which his release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another, the court shall commit the person to the custody of the Attorney General."
18 U.S.C. § 4246(d).
Proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 4246 are commenced when the director of a facility in which a person is hospitalized files a certificate with the clerk of court certifying that a person whose sentence is about to expire "is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which his release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another." 18 U.S.C. § 4246(a). The clerk of court is required to send a copy of the certificate to the hospitalized person, and at the hearing to determine whether the person poses a "substantial risk" to society the person whose mental condition is the subject of the hearing is entitled to counsel. 18 U.S.C. § 4247(d). The person is also "afforded an opportunity to testify, to present evidence, to subpoena witnesses on his behalf, and to confront and cross-examine witnesses who appear at the hearing." Id.
The Respondent was originally committed for hospitalization in September of 1987 pursuant to the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 4246(a) and (d) after an evidentiary hearing was held on August 7, 1987. The Respondent was represented by counsel at that hearing [Docket No. 4].
A person committed for hospitalization pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(d) may later be either unconditionally or conditionally released upon the government's initiative. This process is initiated when the director of the facility in which the person is hospitalized determines that the hospitalized person has recovered from his mental disease or defect to such an extent that his release — either with or without conditions — would no longer create a substantial risk to society. When that determination is made, the director of the facility files a certificate to that effect with the clerk of court. 18 U.S.C. § 4246(e). The court must then order the discharge of the hospitalized person or hold a hearing, conducted pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4247(d), to determine whether the person should be released. Id.
If, after the hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person has recovered from his mental illness to such an extent that his unconditional release would no longer create a substantial risk to persons or property, the court must order that the person be immediately and unconditionally discharged. 18 U.S.C. § 4246(e)(1). Likewise, if, after the hearing, the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person's "conditional release under a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment would no longer create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another," the court must order that the person be conditionally discharged under that prescribed treatment regimen. 18 U.S.C. § 4246(e)(2).
A hospitalized individual may also be released upon the motion of the legal guardian or counsel for the hospitalized person. Thus, 18 U.S.C. § 4247(h) permits the hospitalized person's counsel or legal guardian to file a motion "at any time during such person's hospitalization" for "a hearing to determine whether the person should be discharged" from the facility at which the mentally ill person is being hospitalized. 18 U.S.C. § 4247(h). However, no such motion may be filed within 180 days of a court determination that the person should continue to be hospitalized. Id.
In this case, the Respondent was conditionally released in March of 1994 [Docket No. 47] based upon the government's filing of a certificate with the clerk of court pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246(e). That certificate stated that the clinical staff at FMC-Rochester believe that Respondent "can be safely released at this time under a specified regimen of psychiatric, psychological, and medical care pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 4246(e)(2)." [Docket No. 46]
Once a conditional release has been granted, as it has been in this case, a district court may revoke the conditional discharge if two conditions are met. Those two conditions are set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 4246(f). First, a person must fail to comply with the conditions of his release, which include the duty to follow his prescribed treatment regimen. See United States v. Woods, 995 F.2d 894, 896 (9th Cir.1993). Second, "the court must conduct a hearing and determine whether in light of this failure the person's continued release would pose a risk to society." Id. The pertinent language of 18 U.S.C. § 4246(f) reads:
"The court shall, after a hearing, determine whether the person should be remanded to a suitable facility on the ground that, in light of his failure to comply with the prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment, his continued release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to property of another."
18 U.S.C. § 4246(f).
On September 28, 1987, the Respondent was committed to the custody of the Attorney General pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4246 [Docket No. 5]. The Respondent had been convicted of six counts of bank robbery in 1979, and his commitment to FMC-Rochester followed...
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