In RE DETENTION OF McGARY

231 P.3d 205
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 11, 2010
Docket38257-1-II
StatusPublished

This text of 231 P.3d 205 (In RE DETENTION OF McGARY) 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 McGARY, 231 P.3d 205 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

231 P.3d 205 (2010)

In re the DETENTION OF Darnell McGARY, Appellant.

No. 38257-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

March 23, 2010.
Publication Ordered May 11, 2010.

*207 David Bruce Koch, Jennifer J. Sweigert, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Sarah Sappington, Office of the Atty. General, Brooke Elizabeth Burbank, Assistant Attorney General-SVP Section C, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

HOUGHTON, P.J.

¶ 1 Darnell McGary appeals[1] the trial court's denial of his motion for a full evidentiary hearing under RCW 71.09.090,[2] the sexually violent predator (SVP) statute. He argues that (1) the trial court impermissibly weighed evidence presented at his show cause hearing, (2) he presented sufficient evidence to establish probable cause requiring a full evidentiary hearing, and (3) RCW 71.09.090(4) violates due process as applied to him. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 McGary is a convicted sex offender. In re Detention of McGary, 128 Wash.App. 467, 470, 116 P.3d 415 (2005).[3] In 1988, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree rape, one count of indecent liberties by forcible compulsion, two counts of first degree burglary, and one count of second degree burglary. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 470, 116 P.3d 415. He served approximately nine years' incarceration. McGary, 128 Wash. App. at 470, 116 P.3d 415. While incarcerated, he committed more than 40 major infractions, including numerous threats to staff, and he suffered from paranoia and delusions that prison officers were trying to kill him. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 470, 116 P.3d 415.

¶ 3 In April 1998, before McGary's scheduled prison release, the State filed a petition for his civil commitment under chapter 71.09 RCW as a SVP. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 470, 116 P.3d 415. The State established probable cause, resulting in McGary's commitment at the Special Commitment Center (SCC) pending trial. McGary, 128 Wash. App. at 470, 116 P.3d 415. Because he refused to take psychiatric medication to control his paranoid and schizophrenic behavior, his condition deteriorated, and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) transferred him to Western State Hospital under chapter 71.05 RCW, the civil commitment provision. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 470-71, 116 P.3d 415. As a result, in April 2000, the State dismissed its SVP petition without prejudice. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 471, 116 P.3d 415. After his condition stabilized in December 2000, the State refiled the SVP petition. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 472, 116 P.3d 415.

¶ 4 McGary then stipulated to probable cause and civil commitment under chapter 71.09 RCW. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 473, 116 P.3d 415. Specifically, he stipulated that he suffers from schizophrenia and an antisocial personality disorder. He also stipulated that his antisocial personality disorder "causes him serious difficulty controlling his sexually violent behavior," making him "more likely than not to engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if he is not confined in a *208 secure facility."[4] I Clerk's Papers (CP) at 91. The trial court concluded that his antisocial personality disorder is a "mental abnormality" under RCW 71.09.020(8). I CP at 92. The stipulation allowed his placement into a less restrictive alternative in the SCC. McGary, 128 Wash.App. at 473, 116 P.3d 415. That less restrictive alternative proved unsuccessful when he stopped taking his medications.

¶ 5 Since his civil commitment, DSHS has reviewed McGary's case annually following RCW 71.09.070. In January 2008, Dr. Jonathan Allison evaluated McGary and determined that he continues to suffer from schizophrenia, paranoid type, paraphilia, not otherwise specified (nonconsent), and antisocial personality disorder.[5]

¶ 6 Dr. Allison's report also indicated that McGary's medication compliance and participation in sex offender treatment through the years have been "inconsistent," that such inconsistencies contributed to a failed placement in a less restrictive alternative, and that he was "not participating in any kind of sex offender treatment" at the time of the assessment. I CP at 148. Dr. Allison noted that, although McGary currently took his schizophrenia medication, his thin king reflected a "delusional network in which he works to undermine his own interest. For example, since he believes he does not have a mental illness, he sets himself up to stop taking his medication." I CP at 145. Dr. Allison further noted McGary's statement that he was taking his schizophrenia medication only because his SCC doctor required it.

¶ 7 Dr. Allison concluded that McGary's "delusional network is centered on one coherent theme: if he does not have a mental illness, a personality disorder and a paraphilia, he does not need to be at the [SCC]. This thereby demonstrates his inability to accurately evaluate his own risk to the community at large." I CP at 145.

¶ 8 McGary declined to be interviewed for Dr. Allison's evaluation. Based on the results of Static-99 and Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool-Revised, Dr. Allison opined that McGary would likely reoffend if released into the community. Because McGary refused to participate in treatment and did not believe he needed to take his medication, Dr. Allison said that he continued to meet the SVP definition.

¶ 9 Because McGary did not waive his right to petition for release as part of his annual review, on August 19, 2008, the trial court held a show cause hearing to determine whether he continued to meet commitment criteria. To establish probable cause that he no longer met commitment criteria, McGary presented Dr. Theodore Donaldson's report, which addressed the question of possible change through treatment only in its conclusion,

McGary no longer suffers from a paraphilic disorder (if he ever did) and that this change could be due to any number of conditions, including his early participation in treatment, including working on sexual autobiographies and relapse prevention plans.

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