Born v. Thompson

154 Wash. 2d 749
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 4, 2005
DocketNo. 74126-3
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 154 Wash. 2d 749 (Born v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Born v. Thompson, 154 Wash. 2d 749 (Wash. 2005).

Opinions

¶1 Petitioner Mark Born challenges the Court of Appeals’ holding that the standard of proof necessary to detain an individual under RCW 10.77.090(1)(d)(i) for restoration of competency to stand trial for certain misdemeanors is by a preponderance of the evidence. We hold that due process requires that proof must be by clear and convincing evidence and that under this standard the State did not prove that Mr. Born was charged with a violent act as required for commitment for competency restoration under RCW 10.77.090(1)(d)(i).

Madsen, J.

Facts

|2 The parties have agreed to the facts contained in a King County Sheriff’s Office incident report describing Mr. Bom’s alleged offense. On May 31, 2001, Born was riding a bus that had completed its route. The driver stood up and asked Born, who was “seated at the front on the passenger side” of the bus, to get off. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 8. Mr. Born raised his fist and cocked it back as if to hit the driver and told the driver that he would take him, Born, where [752]*752he wanted to go — he was not getting off. The driver twice asked Mr. Born to leave the bus, and twice Mr. Born responded in the same way. The driver was concerned that Born would hit him and “felt that Born might have some mental health issues.” Id. The bus driver got off the bus and called for assistance. The Shoreline Police Department responded and Mr. Born was arrested and charged with unlawful bus conduct for exhibiting harassing behavior, a misdemeanor under King County Code (KCC) 28.96.010(B)(7).1

¶3 At arraignment, the district court inquired into Mr. Born’s competence to stand trial and then ordered an evaluation of Born’s competency.2 The court subsequently reviewed the written evaluation and the police incident report and concluded that Mr. Born was incompetent and the pending charge alleged a violent act. Under RCW 10.77.090(1)(d)(i), a court may stay a misdemeanor prosecution and commit the defendant for mental health treatment and competency restoration if he or she is charged with “one or more violent acts” and a court has found the defendant incompetent.3 Accordingly, the court ordered that Born be sent to Western State Hospital for treatment and competency restoration.

[753]*753¶4 Mr. Born immediately filed a habeas corpus petition in superior court, arguing that the State had not proved that the facts contained in the police incident report supported the trial court’s determination that he had been charged with a violent act.4 The commitment order was stayed pending the hearing on the petition for the writ. At the hearing, the parties agreed that the superior court could proceed based on the facts stated in the police incident report. The superior court held that under either a preponderance of the evidence standard or a clear and convincing standard the pending charge alleged a violent act as defined by RCW 10.77.010(21). The court denied the application for a writ and lifted the stay. Mr. Born was transferred to Western State Hospital.5

¶5 Mr. Born appealed. The Court of Appeals initially noted the parties’ dispute about whether the issues raised were moot, given that Born’s commitment for competency restoration had ended, and concluded that even if the case was moot, review was appropriate because the issues raised involved matters of continuing and substantial public interest. Born v. Thompson, 117 Wn. App. 57, 63, 69 P.3d 343 (2003). The Court of Appeals affirmed the superior court’s denial of the writ, holding that the standard of proof is by a preponderance of the evidence and the evidence established that Born was charged with a violent act.

Analysis

¶6 RCW 10.77.090(1)(d)(i) does not contain a standard of proof. Mr. Born argues that to satisfy due process concerns the standard of proof the State must meet under [754]*754the statute is proof by clear and convincing evidence.6 We agree.

¶7 Determining the standard of proof that applies for civil commitment is a due process inquiry that requires a court to balance the interests at stake and consider the risk of an erroneous decision:

In considering what standard should govern in a civil commitment proceeding, we must assess both the extent of the individual’s interest in not being involuntarily confined indefinitely and the state’s interest in committing the emotionally disturbed under a particular standard of proof. Moreover, we must be mindful that the function of legal process is to minimize the risk of erroneous decisions.

Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418, 425, 99 S. Ct. 1804, 60 L. Ed. 2d 323 (1979) (citing Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 335, 96 S. Ct. 893, 47 L. Ed. 2d 18 (1976)). As the United States Supreme Court observed, the function of a standard of proof for due process purposes is “to ‘instruct the factfinder concerning the degree of confidence our society thinks he should have in the correctness of factual conclusions for a particular type of adjudication.’ ” Addington, 441 U.S. at 423 (quoting In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 370, 90 S. Ct. 1068, 25 L. Ed. 2d 368 (1970) (Harlan, J., concurring)). “In cases involving individual rights, whether criminal or civil, ‘[t]he standard of proof. . . reflects the value society places on individual liberty.’ ” Addington, 441 U.S. at 425 (alteration in original) (quoting Tippett v. Maryland, 436 F.2d 1153, 1166 (4th Cir. 1971) (Sobeloff, J., concurring in part, dissenting in part)).

¶8 The Court noted that it had used the clear and convincing standard to protect particularly important individual interests in civil cases. Addington, 441 U.S. at 424. The Court held that a clear and convincing standard of proof applies to indefinite involuntary civil commitment proceedings and rejected the preponderance standard because the individual interests at stake were of such weight [755]*755and gravity that the state had to justify confinement by a more substantial standard of proof. Id. at 427.

¶9 We have also applied the balancing test of Mathews when determining what standard of proof is required to satisfy procedural due process concerns in involuntary commitment proceedings. See, e.g., In re Det. of LaBelle, 107 Wn.2d 196, 221, 728 P.2d 138 (1986) (the preponderance standard satisfies due process for a 14-day involuntary civil commitment under RCW 71.05.240); Dunner v. McLaughlin, 100 Wn.2d 832, 839, 843,

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Bluebook (online)
154 Wash. 2d 749, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/born-v-thompson-wash-2005.