In Re Detention of Halgren

98 P.3d 1206, 124 Wash. App. 206
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 23, 2004
Docket50192-5-I
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 98 P.3d 1206 (In Re Detention of Halgren) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Detention of Halgren, 98 P.3d 1206, 124 Wash. App. 206 (Wash. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

98 P.3d 1206 (2004)
122 Wash.App. 660

In re the DETENTION OF Michael Allen HALGREN, Appellant.

No. 50192-5-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

July 26, 2004.
As Changed and Publication Granted September 23, 2004.

*1208 Nancy P. Collins, WA Appellate Project, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Brooke E. Burbank, David J.W. Hackett, Carla B. Carlstrom, Jeffrey C. Dernbach, King Co. Prosecutors Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

COX, C.J.

The "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard specified in RCW 71.09.060(1), which partially describes the requirements of a civil commitment trial under the Sexually Violent Predator Act ("SVPA"), reflects the legislative intent that jury verdicts in such trials must be unanimous.[1] A Petrich[2] instruction is required *1209 when the State presents evidence of several acts that could form the basis of one charged count and fails to inform the jury of its election to rely on a specific act to support the charge.[3] Because examination of the statutory definition of sexually violent predator ("SVP") in RCW 71.09.020(16) makes clear that mental illness, whether it is defined as "mental abnormality" or "personality disorder," is a critical element in determining whether one is an SVP, we reject Michael Halgren's attempt to apply the Petrich rule here. The trial court properly exercised its discretion in declining to give such an instruction where evidence in the record indicated that Halgren suffered from a "mental abnormality" and a "personality disorder." We affirm.

Prior to his release from prison for an unlawful imprisonment conviction, the State filed a petition pursuant to RCW 71.09 alleging that Halgren was an SVP. The petition was based on the predicate offense of his 1989 first degree rape conviction.

Prior to trial, and over Halgren's objection, the trial court granted the State's motion for a CR 35 mental examination in September 2001. Over Halgren's objections under Frye,[4] ER 702, ER 703, and ER 403, the trial court also admitted testimony concerning risk prediction actuarial instruments and the results of a penile plethysmograph test ("PPG").

During trial, the State's expert, Dr. Robert Wheeler, testified that Halgren had the mental disorder of paraphilia NOS rape and anti-social personality disorder. Wheeler testified that the combination of paraphilia and antisocial personality disorder caused Halgren serious difficulty controlling his behavior. In contrast, Halgren's expert, Dr. Theodore Donaldson, testified that Halgren did not have a mental disorder and did not presently have a personality disorder.

At the close of the trial, Halgren requested a Petrich instruction. His argument was based on the theory that evidence of both a mental abnormality as well as a personality disorder was before the jury. He argued that the jury verdict must be unanimous as to which of these two mental conditions applied to Halgren. The trial court refused to give the requested instruction.

The trial court also instructed the jury that it must consider less restrictive alternatives to total confinement, but that the court had no authority to order such conditions.[5]

The jury returned a verdict that Halgren is an SVP, and Halgren appeals.

We stayed this matter pending our supreme court's decision in Thorell.

UNANIMITY INSTRUCTION

Halgren contends that the trial court's refusal to give a unanimity instruction that required the jury to determine whether he suffered from either a "mental abnormality" or a "personality disorder" was an abuse of discretion. We hold that the court properly exercised its discretion because a Petrich instruction is not required as to which of these two mental illnesses underlies a determination that one is an SVP.

RCW 71.09.060(1) specifies a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard that reflects the legislative intent that jury verdicts in commitment trials under the SVPA must be unanimous.[6] A Petrich instruction is required when the State presents evidence of several acts that could form the basis of one charged count and it fails to inform the jury of its election to rely on a specific act to support the charge.[7] Where neither alternative is followed, a constitutional error arises stemming from the possibility that some jurors may have relied on one act while other jurors relied on another, resulting in a lack of unanimity on all elements necessary for a conviction.[8]

*1210 Whether a statute describes a single offense committable in more than one way or describes multiple offenses is a question of legislative intent.[9] When the statute, on its face, does not clearly indicate legislative intent, we may determine that intent by applying several factors.[10] The factors include (1) the title of the act; (2) whether there is a readily perceivable connection between the various acts set forth; (3) whether the acts are consistent with and not repugnant to each other; (4) and whether the acts may inhere in the same transaction.[11] We review a trial court's decision to refuse a party's jury instruction for an abuse of discretion.[12]

An SVP is "any person who has been convicted of or charged with a crime of sexual violence and who suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder which makes the person likely to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if not confined in a secure facility."[13] RCW 71.09.060(1) specifies, "[t]he court or jury shall determine whether, beyond a reasonable doubt, the person is a sexually violent predator."

Halgren does not contend that the jury failed to conclude unanimously that he is an SVP. Rather, he argues that a Petrich instruction was required to ensure that the jury was unanimous on which of two mental illnesses — "mental abnormality" or "personality disorder" — was the one from which he suffers. This argument is unsupported by controlling authority, and we reject it.

We first note that there is evidence in the record, which if believed, satisfied both of the two statutory criteria. Nevertheless, Halgren questions whether the record supported the diagnoses concluding that he suffered from both conditions. We need only point to the testimony of Dr. Wheeler to address this point.

Dr. Wheeler testified:

I've diagnosed [Halgren] with two major mental disorders, paraphilia NOS, nonconsenting persons, and antisocial personality disorder. Those are separate diagnoses, but obviously they interact in the same individual.
In Mr. Halgren's case, his recurrent, intense sexual fantasies and urges and behaviors related to sexually assaulting sexually mature females by definition create an emotional pull to engage in the behavior. By definition, they predispose the person to engage in those behaviors ...

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Related

In re the Detention of Halgren
156 Wash. 2d 795 (Washington Supreme Court, 2006)
In Re Detention of Halgren
132 P.3d 714 (Washington Supreme Court, 2006)
In Re Detention of Stout
114 P.3d 658 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)
State v. Stout
114 P.3d 658 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
98 P.3d 1206, 124 Wash. App. 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-detention-of-halgren-washctapp-2004.