In re B.A.F.

2019 MT 57, 436 P.3d 718, 395 Mont. 98
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 12, 2019
DocketDA 17-0567
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2019 MT 57 (In re B.A.F.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re B.A.F., 2019 MT 57, 436 P.3d 718, 395 Mont. 98 (Mo. 2019).

Opinion

Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Opinion of the Court.

***99¶1 B.A.F. appeals from a June 6, 2017 Tenth Judicial District Court order extending his commitment to the Montana Mental Health Nursing Care Center (Care Center). We affirm.

¶2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows:

Whether the requirements of § 53-21-119(1), MCA, applied when B.A.F. requested a hearing to stipulate to the extension of his ***100involuntary commitment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶3 B.A.F. is a sixty-six-year-old man with a long-standing history of mental illness. B.A.F. suffers from schizophrenia, paranoid type, and antisocial personality disorder. In 2015, B.A.F. was committed to the Montana State Hospital (MSH) for the thirteenth time. On April 27, 2016, after several months at MSH, B.A.F. stabilized and transitioned to a community setting in Helena, Montana. However, B.A.F.'s condition quickly deteriorated when he quit taking his medication and, on May 10, 2016, B.A.F. returned to MSH. On March 11, 2016, B.A.F.'s commitment to MSH was extended for a period of one year. In September 2016, B.A.F. was transferred to Care Center in Lewistown, Montana.

¶4 On February 21, 2017, Susan Stevens (Stevens), a mental health professional at Care Center, petitioned the Tenth Judicial District Court to extend B.A.F.'s commitment. The District Court appointed B.A.F. counsel and appointed Stephen Cummings as B.A.F.'s friend. The Court appointed Stevens to examine B.A.F. and submit a mental health assessment.

¶5 In March 2017, B.A.F. requested a hearing through counsel. In the request, his counsel asserted: "[B.A.F.] wishes to stipulate to the petition for commitment, but requests a hearing to put on the record that he is capable of making an intelligent and knowing decision." The State did not object and the District Court set a hearing to approve the stipulation for two and a half months later, ordering the commitment extended in the meantime. On June 6, 2017, the District Court heard testimony from B.A.F. and Mr. Cummings. Below is B.A.F.'s testimony in its entirety:

*720B.A.F.'s Counsel: And just for the record Your Honor I have met with [B.A.F.] a couple times and he has indicated that he is willing to stipulate and continue his care here as long as his social worker is working with him to explore other options .... [B.A.F.] will you state your name please for the record?
B.A.F.: [B.A.F.]
Counsel: And how are you doing right now?
B.A.F.: Fine. I can't think or comprehend very well though because of this certain (unintelligible) of the needle injections instead of the tablet form.
Counsel: And so you've ... we've discussed that you request that the staff work with you and maybe try to transition you back to taking tablets instead of the injections that you receive?
***101B.A.F.: Yes because I lost my memory pattern taking that the injection form and my thought processes, my memory pattern from day to day I've lost.
Counsel: And are the ... does the staff treat you well here?
B.A.F.: They talk behind my back here.
Counsel: Okay.
B.A.F.: Some of them do, not all of them.
Counsel: But for the most part they work well with you?
B.A.F.: Yeah.
Counsel: And so you've indicated that you would like to work with your social worker and that's Teresa, to explore other options is that correct?
B.A.F.: Yeah.
Counsel: And specifically where would you like to go right now?
B.A.F.: Missoula, Montana.
Counsel: Okay. And so, you're willing to continue your care here while Teresa works on filling out applications for you for facilities in Missoula?
B.A.F.: Yes, she's sure taking her time helping me out though.
Counsel: Okay. And at this point you're willing to continue taking your meds?
B.A.F.: Yes.
Counsel: And do you feel that those medications are helpful for your mental health and your physical health?
B.A.F.: I don't know. I ruined my central nervous system taking this medication. Sometimes my left and right arm shake extremely bad.
Counsel: And so you'd like to see if you could get some medical treatment for your shaking arms as well?
B.A.F.: I've talked to two doctors already. They don't know what's going on in my arms because they shake like this.
Counsel: Okay. Well is there anything else that you want the Court to know right now [B.A.F.]?
B.A.F.: I think they gave me some type of poisoning that ruined my central nervous system and my blood veins in my arms have all disappeared, shriveled up, shrunk up. Some type of poisoning they are giving me through medication.
Counsel: Okay.
B.A.F.: They want me to die off gradually I guess.
Counsel: But you're willing to continue your stay here and work with the staff correct?
B.A.F.: Yes.
***102Counsel: Okay. I have nothing further from [B.A.F.] Your Honor.

At the conclusion of the hearing the District Court entered an oral order recommitting B.A.F. to the Care Center for one year "unless released sooner," with authorization to administer medications involuntarily. The District Court issued a written order on June 29, 2017, further explaining the order based on the record, B.A.F.'s stipulation, and the evidence presented. B.A.F. now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6 We review a district court's civil commitment order to determine whether the court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous and its conclusions of law are correct. In re T.S.D ., 2005 MT 35, ¶ 13, 326 Mont. 82, 107 P.3d 481. We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party when determining whether substantial credible evidence supports the district court's findings.

*721In re C.V ., 2016 MT 307

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 MT 57, 436 P.3d 718, 395 Mont. 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-baf-mont-2019.