IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.S., SVP-24-99 (ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(RECORD IMPOUNDED)

CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedAugust 27, 2018
DocketA-3665-14T5
StatusUnpublished

This text of IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.S., SVP-24-99 (ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(RECORD IMPOUNDED) (IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.S., SVP-24-99 (ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(RECORD IMPOUNDED)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.S., SVP-24-99 (ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(RECORD IMPOUNDED), (N.J. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

RECORD IMPOUNDED

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-3665-14T5

IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.S., SVP-24-99. _______________________________

Submitted January 23, 2018 – Decided August 27, 2018

Before Judges Yannotti and Leone.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, Docket No. SVP- 24-99.

Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant J.S. (Maritza Rodriguez, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney for respondent State of New Jersey (Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Amy Beth Cohn, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

J.S. appeals from a February 6, 2015 order determining that

he continued to be a sexually-violent predator who must be civilly

committed in the Special Treatment Unit (STU) under the Sexually

Violent Predators Act (SVPA), N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.24 to -27.38. We

affirm. I.

In 1986, J.S. caused a four-year-old girl to lick his penis

and caused her six-year-old brother to engage in sexual conduct.

J.S. pled guilty to second-degree sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-

2(b), and was sentenced to four years of probation.

Also in 1986, J.S. repeatedly forced a four-year-old boy to

perform fellatio on him, and threatened to come back and kill him.

In 1992, the boy revealed J.S.'s conduct. In 1994 J.S. pled guilty

to first-degree aggravated sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(a),

third-degree terroristic threats, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3(a), and third-

degree witness tampering, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-5(a), and was sentenced

to seven years in the Adult Diagnostic & Treatment Center (ADTC).

Meanwhile, in 1994 J.S. took pictures of a nude fifteen-year-

old girl. He pled guilty to second-degree and fourth-degree

endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(b)(3) and

(b)(5)(b), and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, N.J.S.A.

2C:14-3(b), and was sentenced to seven years in prison. The two

seven-year terms were concurrent.

When J.S. nearing the end of his criminal sentence in 1999,

he was evaluated at the Ann Klein Forensic Center (AKFC) and was

found not to satisfy the criteria for commitment to the AKFC. In

2000, the trial judge ordered J.S. to be civilly committed at the

Northern Regional Unit (NRU), the predecessor of the STU.

2 A-3665-14T5 The trial judge and other judges ordered that J.S. remain

committed to the STU in various annual reviews from 2002 through

2014. We affirmed the 2003 and 2007 orders committing J.S. to the

STU. In re Civil Commitment of J.S., No. A-4335-07 (App. Div.

Oct. 7, 2004); In re Civil Commitment of J.S., No. A-5712-06 (App.

Div. Jan. 8, 2008) (J.S. II). In J.S. II, we rejected J.S.'s

contention that he should be transferred from the STU to the AKFC

because it was safer and a more therapeutic setting. Id. (slip

op. at 8-9).

For the commitment review at issue here, the trial judge held

hearings on three days in 2014 and 2015. He heard testimony from

J.S., four experts, and the CEO of the AKFC, Dr. Glenn Ferguson.

The State's expert psychiatrist, Dr. Indra Cidambi, testified

that J.S. has pedophilic disorder; unspecified paraphilic

disorder; and an unspecified personality disorder with antisocial

features. She found they affect him emotionally, cognitively, or

volitionally. The State's expert psychologist, Dr. Tarmeen Sahni,

testified J.S. refused to be interviewed, but his file showed he

has pedophilia, sexually attracted to both genders, non-exclusive

type; paraphilia, not otherwise specified, with non-consent and

sadistic features; and personality disorder, not otherwise

specified, with schizotypal and antisocial traits. Both testified

3 A-3665-14T5 these mental conditions predispose J.S. to commit acts of sexual

violence.

J.S.'s expert psychiatrist, Dr. Gary Collins, testified that

J.S. has pedophilic disorder, non-exclusive type, sexually

attracted to both genders; conversion disorder; bipolar disorder;

and personality disorder, not otherwise specified. J.S.'s expert

psychologist, Dr. Timothy Foley, testified J.S. has pedophilic

disorder; and bipolar disorder with strong indication of

schizotypal personality disorder.

All of the experts agreed that, as a result of his mental

abnormalities or disorders, J.S. has serious difficulty

controlling sexually violent behavior, and that it was highly

likely he would reoffend if released. Based on their testimony,

the trial judge found that J.S. required continued civil

commitment. On February 6, 2016, the court ordered that J.S.

remain committed to the STU.

II.

J.S. appeals. He argues:

POINT ONE – THE STATE FAILED TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT TO J.S. AS REQUIRED BY THE SVPA AND THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT, ALLOWING J.S. TO LANGUISH FOR FIFTEEN YEARS WITHOUT PROPER PSYCHIATRIC CARE.

POINT TWO – J.S. MUST BE RELEASED BECAUSE HE FEARS FOR HIS SAFETY AT THE STU DUE TO THE SEVERE ABUSE THAT J.S. HAS TESTIFIED HE

4 A-3665-14T5 SUFFERED, WHICH J.S. STATED MAKES THE CONDITIONS AT STU UNBEARABLE.

POINT THREE – J.S. MUST BE RELEASED BECAUSE THE TRIAL COURT FOUND THAT HE HAS NOT MADE ANY PROGRESS IN HIS TREATMENT AT THE STU AND HE IS UNLIKELY TO MAKE ANY PROGRESS IN THE FUTURE, RENDERING HIS CONTINUED COMMITMENT AT THE STU PUNITIVE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

We must hew to our "'extremely narrow'" standard of review

of a commitment hearing. In re Civil Commitment of R.F., 217 N.J.

152, 174 (2014) (citation omitted). Appellate courts "give

deference to the findings of our trial judges because they have

the 'opportunity to hear and see the witnesses and to have the

"feel" of the case, which a reviewing court cannot enjoy.'" Ibid.

(citation omitted). "So long as the trial court's findings are

supported by 'sufficient credible evidence present in the record,'

those findings should not be disturbed." Id. at 175.

Furthermore, "[t]he judges who hear SVPA cases generally are

'specialists' and 'their expertise in the subject' is entitled to

'special deference.'" Id. at 174 (citations omitted).

"Accordingly, an appellate court should not modify a trial court's

determination either to commit or release an individual unless

'the record reveals a clear mistake.'" Id. at 175.

Under the SVPA, "[i]f the court finds by clear and convincing

evidence that the person needs continued involuntary commitment

as a sexually violent predator, it shall issue an order authorizing

5 A-3665-14T5 the involuntary commitment of the person to a facility designated

for the custody, care and treatment of sexually violent predators."

N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.32(a). Three requirements must be satisfied to

classify a person as a sexually violent predator: (1) "that the

individual has been convicted of a sexually violent offense"; (2)

"that he suffers from a mental abnormality or personality

disorder"; and (3) "that as a result of his psychiatric abnormality

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Related

In Re the Civil Commitment of J.M.B.
964 A.2d 752 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2009)
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801 A.2d 205 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2002)
State v. Bellamy
835 A.2d 1231 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2003)
In Re the Civil Commitment of W.X.C., SVP 458-07
8 A.3d 174 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2010)
In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of R.F. Svp 490-08
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