Campbell v. State

85 S.W.3d 176, 45 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1251, 2002 Tex. LEXIS 135, 2002 WL 1981366
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 29, 2002
Docket01-1185
StatusPublished
Cited by79 cases

This text of 85 S.W.3d 176 (Campbell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campbell v. State, 85 S.W.3d 176, 45 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1251, 2002 Tex. LEXIS 135, 2002 WL 1981366 (Tex. 2002).

Opinion

Justice ENOCH

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Nathan Dale Campbell challenges a trial court order extending his involuntary commitment in a state mental hospital. Campbell claims that the trial court erred in conducting the hearing that resulted in the commitment order without two medical certificates described in Texas Mental Health Code sections 574.009 and 574.011 being on file. 1 The court of appeals, with *178 one justice concurring in part and dissenting in part, upheld the commitment order. The court of appeals concluded that the medical certificates described in the Mental Health Code were not a prerequisite to the trial court holding a hearing under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 46.03 section 4(d)(5) to determine whether Campbell should be released from his commitment. 2 We agree with the court of appeals and affirm its judgment.

I

Campbell was indicted for aggravated kidnaping and aggravated assault after he attempted to remove his girlfriend’s eyes with a knife. On April 28, 1997, after a bench trial, the trial court found him not guilty by reason of insanity. Campbell was then automatically committed to Vernon State Hospital’s maximum security facility. 3 Subsequently, Campbell was transferred to Rusk State Hospital, a less restrictive facility. Campbell currently resides at Kerrville State Hospital.

While Campbell was at Rusk State Hospital, the superintendent there submitted a report to the trial court stating that, according to Campbell’s attending psychiatrist, Campbell no longer needed inpatient treatment. The superintendent recommended Campbell’s release “with follow-up care by [the] Harris County Mental Health Authority to assure medication management and periodic counseling.” A letter from Campbell’s treating physician, Dr. Robert Higginbotham, accompanied the superintendent’s report. Dr. Higginbotham stated that because Campbell’s aggressive behavior and substance abuse problems were in remission, and because Campbell had a supportive family, he no longer needed inpatient psychiatric treatment. Attached to Dr. Higginbotham’s letter was a “Certificate of Medical Examination for Mental Illness,” dated May 9, 2000. In the certificate, Dr. Higginbotham indicated that Campbell did not meet the criteria for court-ordered mental health services. 4

The State moved the trial court to appoint Dr. Vic Scarano and Dr. Fred Fason to conduct psychiatric examinations of Campbell. The trial court granted the motion on May 25, 2000. The next day, the trial court rendered an order requiring Campbell to be transported to the courthouse on May 31, 2000.

After conducting their psychiatric examinations, Dr. Scarano and Dr. Fason filed medical certificates with the trial court. Dr. Scarano’s certificate, dated May 28, 2000, found that Campbell was mentally ill but did not meet the criteria necessary for continued inpatient treatment. Dr. Fa-son’s certificate, dated May 30, 2000, found that Campbell was mentally ill and did meet the criteria for continued inpatient treatment. The record also contained a letter from Douglas Samuels, M.D., who the trial court had ordered to make a recommendation for the most appropriate treatment for Campbell. 5 Dr. Samuels stated that moving Campbell from inpatient to outpatient care would require a highly structured program with daily mon *179 itoring, which the Harris County Mental Health Authority was incapable of providing.

On May 31, 2000, the State filed an application for extended court-ordered mental health services. That same day, the trial court held a hearing, with Campbell present, to determine whether he should be released from his commitment. Dr. Scarano and Dr. Fason, among others, testified. Campbell’s counsel objected to proceeding with the hearing without two medical certificates being on file stating that Campbell met the Mental Health Code’s criteria for continued inpatient treatment. The trial court overruled that objection and conducted the hearing.

On June 2, 2000, the trial court ordered Campbell committed to Rusk State Hospital for another year of inpatient treatment. The order states that the trial court previously found that Campbell had committed an act, attempt, or threat of serious bodily injury to another person under Code of Criminal Procedure article 46.03 section 4(d). It also orders Campbell, among other things, to “not have any personal contact, personal relationships, intimate or physical relationships with any females.”

Campbell appealed. While the appeal was pending, Campbell was transferred to Kerrville State Hospital. In response to a letter from that hospital seeking clarification of the June 2, 2000, order, the trial court on January 9, 2001, filed an “addendum to previous order of commitment.” According to Campbell, the addendum was rendered without notice or a hearing. The addendum, among other things, orders the staff and treatment providers at Rusk or Kerrville State Hospital to prohibit Campbell from making telephone calls to females except his mother, receiving visits from females except his mother, going on smoke breaks in the presence of females, and taking his meals at a table where a female is sitting.

On January 23, 2001, the trial court amended the addendum, again without notice or a hearing. The amendment prohibits staff and treatment providers at Rusk or Kerrville State Hospital from allowing Campbell “to have any inappropriate personal contact with any persons.” Campbell challenged the addendum and its amendment in supplemental briefing before the court of appeals.

The court of appeals, with one justice concurring in part and dissenting in part, affirmed the trial court’s June 2, 2000, order. 6 The court of appeals held that having two medical certificates on file stating that Campbell met the criteria for continued inpatient treatment was not a jurisdictional prerequisite for conducting a hearing on whether Campbell should be released from his commitment. 7 The court of appeals also held, after reviewing all the evidence, that the trial court’s order extending Campbell’s inpatient treatment was based on factually sufficient evidence. 8 The court of appeals declined to consider the issues Campbell raised in his supplemental brief, concluding that Campbell had not raised those issues in the trial court, thereby waiving any error. 9 Although the court of appeals considered other issues raised by Campbell, they are not before us.

We granted Campbell’s petition for review. We decide whether two medical certificates described in Mental Health Code sections 574.009 and 574.011 must be *180 on file before a trial court can conduct a hearing under Code of Criminal Procedure article 46.03

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
85 S.W.3d 176, 45 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1251, 2002 Tex. LEXIS 135, 2002 WL 1981366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-v-state-tex-2002.