In re the Detention of Williams

147 Wash. 2d 476
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 10, 2002
DocketNos. 71235-2; 71199-2
StatusPublished
Cited by144 cases

This text of 147 Wash. 2d 476 (In re the Detention of Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington 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 the Detention of Williams, 147 Wash. 2d 476 (Wash. 2002).

Opinions

Ireland, J.

— Eddie Williams and Darren Strong sought review of a Court of Appeals decision holding that Civil Rule 351 (CR) applies to sexually violent predator commitment proceedings under chapter 71.09 RCW. David McCuistion sought discretionary review of the trial court’s ruling on the same issue.

We hold that the rules of statutory construction require a finding that the State is not entitled to a CR 35 mental examination of an individual for whom the State seeks commitment as a sexually violent predator. We reverse the trial courts’ orders granting the State’s motions for CR 35 mental examinations of Strong and McCuistion and affirm the trial court’s denial of the State’s renewed motion for a CR 35 examination of Williams.

[480]*480FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Williams

The King County Prosecuting Attorney filed a petition to commit Williams as a sexually violent predator under RCW 71.09.030 on January 25, 1999—while Williams was serving a sentence for third degree assault. Williams had been previously convicted of a sexually violent offense, second degree rape, in 1985. During his incarceration for assault, Williams was evaluated by Dr. Iris Rucker, a Department of Corrections psychologist, to determine if Williams met the statutory definition of a “sexually violent predator.”2 After conducting clinical interviews and administering psychological tests, Dr. Rucker prepared a written report, dated January 23, 1999. In that report, Rucker summarized her findings as follows:

[G]iven the comprehensive review of Mr. Williams and his records, it is the opinion of this examiner that he does meet the statutory definition of a sexually violent predator. Mr. Williams’ past sexual conduct and the risk factors reviewed indicate that if he were released into the community, he is at a very high risk to reoffend by committing predatory acts of a sexually violent nature against women. It is the opinion of the examiner that if Mr. Williams is to be at large, it is more likely than not that he will engage in future acts of sexual violence and that there are no less secure alternatives than that he be housed in a facility that is locked/secured.

Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 132.

The prosecutor retained Dr. Leslie Rawlings, a licensed psychologist, to further evaluate Williams for commitment. Dr. Rawlings conducted a records review and prepared a sworn declaration in which he stated: “[I]t is my professional opinion that Mr. Williams is more likely than not to [481]*481engage in predatory acts of sexual violence if he is not confined to a secure facility.” CP at 21.

After a 72-hour probable cause hearing conducted on February 9, 1999, the trial court ordered Williams “remanded to the custody of the Department of Social and Health Services at the Special Commitment Center in Steilacoom for an evaluation as described in RCW 71.09.040.” CP at 67, 69.

Williams was unwilling to voluntarily participate in an interview with Dr. Rawlings, the prosecutor’s expert. In August 1999, the State moved to compel a CR 35 mental examination. In his declaration supporting the motion, Rawlings stated:

It is my standard and preferred practice to personally interview people whom I evaluate within a reasonable period prior to offering my opinion regarding their current condition. In addition, a clinical interview of Mr. Williams, along with psychological and plethysmograph testing, will help ensure that I have a comprehensive set of data sources to allow for a full, complete, and current evaluation.

CP at 77-78.

Williams opposed the motion, stating: “The State seeks to intrude into the mind, and body, of Mr. Williams to ask him questions about his most intimate sexual thoughts, his sexual history, his sexual fantasies and to physically test his sexual arousal to sexually explicit material.” CP at 135.

The trial court issued the following order:

The above-entitled Court, having heard a motion to compel a psychiatric and psychological examination of the respondent, Eddie Leon Williams, Jr., and the Court having reviewed the materials in support of, and in opposition to, said motion, and the Court having concluded that compelling the respondent to submit to such an examination is not warranted by the Civil Rules, nor by the provisions of RCW 71.09
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the state’s motion is denied, and the respondent need not submit to a psychiatric and/or psychological examination against his will.

CP at 175.

[482]*482On December 10, the court denied the State’s renewed motion for a CR 35 examination without comment. The State then sought discretionary review of the issue in the Court of Appeals.

Williams was accepted and consolidated with In re Detention of Darren Strong for review. In re Det. of Williams, 106 Wn. App. 85, 92, 22 P.3d 283 (2001). The Court of Appeals held that the State may obtain a CR 35 examination in a sexually violent predator proceeding upon a showing of good cause and remanded the matter to the trial court to determine whether good cause existed to grant the State’s renewed CR 35 motion for a mental examination by Dr. Rawlings. Williams sought review by this court.

Strong

The King County Prosecuting Attorney filed a petition to commit Darren Strong as a sexually violent predator on August 25, 1999—while Strong was serving a sentence for second degree assault. Strong had been previously convicted of two sexually violent offenses, first degree child molestation and first degree rape of a child, in 1990. During his incarcerations, Strong was evaluated twice for commitment as a sexually violent predator by Dr. Paul C. Daley, a consulting psychologist with the Clallam Bay Corrections Center where Strong was housed. In his written report of February 11, 1999, Dr. Daley stated as follows:

Mr. Strong has committed a sexually violent offense (rape of a child first degree, child molestation first degree) as well as at least one crime (if not more for which he was not charged) wherein the crime, while not classified as a sexual crime, was clearly sexually motivated; ... he clearly suffers a “mental abnormality or personality disorder . . . and ... it is clear that his mental condition makes it likely that he will continue to engage in predatory sexual violence. This examiner would rate Mr. Strong at the highest possible risk for continued sexual predation. He is the prototype of the type of person for whom civil commitment for sexual predator laws were made.

CP at 550.

[483]*483The prosecutor retained Dr. Richard Packard, a licensed psychologist, to further evaluate Strong for commitment. Because Strong declined to participate in this evaluation, Packard based his assessment on a review of the available records. In his report of July 30, 1999, Dr. Packard concluded:

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147 Wash. 2d 476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-detention-of-williams-wash-2002.