In Re: The Commitment of David Basquez, Jr. v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 7, 2023
Docket05-22-00299-CV
StatusPublished

This text of In Re: The Commitment of David Basquez, Jr. v. the State of Texas (In Re: The Commitment of David Basquez, Jr. v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re: The Commitment of David Basquez, Jr. v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Affirmed and Opinion Filed June 7, 2023

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-22-00299-CV

IN RE THE COMMITMENT OF DAVID BASQUEZ, JR.

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 1 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. CV2070002

OPINION Before Justices Partida-Kipness, Smith, and Breedlove Opinion by Justice Breedlove Appellant David Basquez Jr. appeals the trial court’s judgment civilly

committing him for treatment and supervision pursuant to the Texas Civil

Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVP Act). See TEX. HEALTH &

SAFETY CODE ANN. § 841.003. In one issue, appellant argues that the trial court

erred by admitting evidence of unadjudicated or unsubstantiated sex offenses. We

affirm the trial court’s judgment.

I. SVP ACT COMMITMENT STANDARDS

In 1999, the Texas Legislature enacted the SVP Act to provide a “civil

commitment procedure for the long-term supervision and treatment of sexually violent predators.” See id. § 841.001. The SVP Act aims to protect the public from

a “small but extremely dangerous group of sexually violent predators” who “have a

behavioral abnormality that is not amenable to traditional mental illness treatment

modalities and that makes the predators likely to engage in repeated predatory acts

of sexual violence.” Id. The SVP Act provides for the involuntary civil commitment

of a repeat sexual offender who is found to be a sexually violent predator. Id.

§§ 841.003(a), 081(a).

In a suit to commit a person as a sexually violent predator, the State must

prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person (1) is a “repeat sexually violent

offender” and (2) “suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes the person

likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence.” Id. §§ 841.003(a), 062(a).

As relevant to the present case, a person is a repeat sexually violent offender if he

has been convicted of more than one sexually violent offense and a sentence was

imposed for at least one of the offenses. Id. § 841.003(b); see also id. § 841.002(8)

(defining “sexually violent offense”). A “behavioral abnormality,” as defined by the

SVP Act, is a “congenital or acquired condition that, by affecting a person’s

emotional or volitional capacity, predisposes the person to commit a sexually violent

offense, to the extent that the person becomes a menace to the health and safety of

another person.” Id. § 841.002(2). A “predatory act” is an “act directed toward

individuals, including family members, for the primary purpose of victimization.”

Id. § 841.002(5).

–2– II. BACKGROUND

On March 12, 2020, the State filed its petition to have appellant deemed a

sexually violent predator and have him civilly committed for treatment and

supervision. See id. § 841.003, 041. The focus at appellant’s jury trial was

appellant’s sexual offenses and the doctor’s evaluation. See generally id. §841.061.

At trial, the State called Dr. Timothy Proctor and appellant to testify.

A. Appellant’s Sexual Offenses

The record showed appellant’s first sexual offense occurred in 1980 when

appellant was 17 years old. The victim in the case was G.F.,1 a boy who was seven

years old when the sexual abuse began. According to appellant’s testimony,

appellant performed oral sex on G.F. about four or five times. He described the

victim as “very playful and very promiscuous” and testified that he thought G.F.

wanted him to perform oral sex on him. Appellant was sentenced to three years’

imprisonment for this offense, probated.

The record showed appellant’s second sexual offense also occurred in 1980

when appellant was 17 years old. The victim in the case was V.F., G.F.’s older

brother who was nine years old when the sexual abuse began. Appellant testified

that the alleged incident with V.F. did not occur and that V.F. was lying. Appellant

was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for this offense, probated.

1 We refer to all minor victims by the abbreviations used by appellant in his brief. –3– The record showed appellant’s third sexual offense occurred in 1985 when

appellant was 21 years old. The victim in the case was D.B., a boy who was

approximately three years old when the sexual abuse began. Appellant admitted in

his testimony to performing oral sex on D.B. on several occasions. Appellant was

sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment for this offense.

The record showed appellant’s fourth sexual offense occurred in 1989 when

appellant was 25 years old. The victim in the case was J.B., D.B.’s younger brother

who was approximately three or four years old when the sexual abuse began.

Appellant admitted in his testimony to performing oral sex on D.B. on several

occasions. Appellant was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment for this offense.

The record also includes evidence of two unadjudicated sexual offenses that

form the subject of this appeal as well as several additional non-violent sex-related

crimes and prison violations2. First, the State offered evidence that appellant

sexually assaulted RoRo, a cousin of G.F., after sexually abusing G.F. in RoRo’s

presence. Appellant denied the allegation regarding RoRo.

Second, according to appellant’s voluntary statement provided to the police

and admitted without objection, appellant allegedly attempted to sexually assault

2 Appellant does not argue on appeal that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony regarding the additional non-violent sex-related crimes and prison violations, so we do not address their admissibility. –4– S.L., the six-year-old cousin of G.F., but was interrupted by S.L.’s mother.

Appellant also testified to this occurrence on cross-examination.

B. Doctor Proctor’s Testimony

Dr. Proctor is a board-certified forensic psychologist and licensed Sex

Offender Treatment Provider. The State hired him to conduct a risk assessment of

appellant and provide his opinions and conclusions regarding whether appellant

suffered from a behavioral abnormality. Dr. Proctor explained he reviews records

(including criminal, medical, and disciplinary records), interviews the individual

face-to-face, reviews deposition testimony from the appellant, and then conducts a

risk assessment to determine if the individual has a behavior abnormality.

Dr. Proctor testified that he interviewed appellant for three hours. Based on

that interview and his review of the records, Dr. Proctor concluded appellant suffers

from a “behavioral abnormality that makes him likely to commit predatory acts of

sexual violence.” He explained the biggest risk factor he identified in appellant was

“sexual deviance” and identified numerous additional risk factors he observed in

appellant. He also testified that appellant’s unwillingness to acknowledge the

problematic elements of his behavior and appellant’s insistence on blaming the

victims and minimizing or rationalizing his sexual attraction to prepubescent boys

are concerns for reoffending. He was similarly concerned with what he called a

“chronic long-term pattern” of offending rather than a single instance or a few

instances of sexual violence close together in time.

–5– In determining appellant’s diagnosis, Dr. Proctor considered appellant’s

criminal history, including juvenile criminal history, non-violent sexual offenses and

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In Re: The Commitment of David Basquez, Jr. v. the State of Texas, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-commitment-of-david-basquez-jr-v-the-state-of-texas-texapp-2023.