People v. Joseph S.

791 N.E.2d 80, 339 Ill. App. 3d 599, 274 Ill. Dec. 284, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 602
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 21, 2003
Docket1-02-0375
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 791 N.E.2d 80 (People v. Joseph S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Joseph S., 791 N.E.2d 80, 339 Ill. App. 3d 599, 274 Ill. Dec. 284, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 602 (Ill. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE SOUTH

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a hearing, respondent Joseph S. was found to be a person subject to involuntary admission under the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (Code) (405 ILCS 5/1—100 et seq. (West 2000)) and ordered to be hospitalized in the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (Department). Respondent contends that the trial court erred in finding him subject to involuntary admission when the State alleged one statutory basis for involuntary admission but argued another. Respondent also contends that the State did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that respondent was unable to provide for his basic physical needs. Respondent lastly contends that the court erred in admitting an “integrated social work assessment” without a proper foundation.

On December 17, 2001, a petition for involuntary admission of respondent was filed, having been signed on December 14. The petition resulted from an emergency admission by certificate. It alleged that respondent was mentally ill, that due to the mental illness he was unable to provide for his basic physical needs so as to guard himself from serious harm, and that he was in need of immediate hospitalization to prevent harm. Specifically, it alleged that respondent was psychotic, that he lived for a period of weeks with the decaying corpse of his mother, that he was paranoid delusional, and that he had illogical writings demonstrating poor contact with reality, such as “Do not negotiate with the enemy, and that is all!”

The certificate was issued by Dr. Wadley of MacNeal Hospital and stated that respondent was examined by Wadley on December 14, 2001. It was Dr. Wadley’s opinion that respondent was mentally ill and that as a result of his mental illness was both reasonably expected to inflict serious harm on himself or others and was unable to provide for his basic physical needs so as to guard himself from serious harm. In support of this opinion, Dr. Wadley stated that respondent was “actively delusional, very paranoid. Was found with his dead mother in apartment for several weeks.”

On the basis of the petition and certificate, respondent was detained for examination at the Department’s Madden Mental Health Center (Madden). On December 17, 2001, Dr. Susan Navalro examined respondent and formed the opinion that he was mentally ill and that as a result of his mental illness was reasonably expected to inflict serious harm on himself or others. In support of this opinion, Dr. Navalro stated that respondent was found at home in a psychotic state with the “mummified” corpse of his mother, who had been dead for several weeks judging from her condition. His brother called the police after not hearing from his mother for a prolonged period, when it was her habit to call daily. Respondent was very paranoid and not forthcoming at the time of Dr. Navalro’s examination. He questioned whether Dr. Navalro was tape-recording the interview and refused to speak in front of another person who entered the room.

A hearing was scheduled for December 20, 2001, and notice was served upon respondent. After two continuances for further evaluation, the hearing was held on January 3, 2002.

Dr. Susan Nowak testified that she was a licensed psychiatrist since 1984 and was employed by the Department at Madden. The parties stipulated that she was a psychiatrist as defined in the Code and qualified to give expert opinions. Dr. Nowak stated that she knew respondent as a patient at Madden that she was treating.

Dr. Nowak first examined respondent on December 17, 2001, and he gave little information and seemed suspicious. She was evaluating respondent based on discussions with respondent, written materials from his examination at MacNeal Hospital and from Madden’s intake department, and observations of respondent by Madden staff members, including respondent’s case manager, other social workers, and the nursing staff. Dr. Nowak discussed with these staff members respondent’s behavior, whether he was sleeping, eating, taking care of himself, what possessions he had, and the nature of his interactions with others. Dr. Nowak herself had spoken with respondent on at least five or six occasions, but these meetings were brief because respondent was uncomfortable and unwilling to divulge information. She also observed respondent daily, and he did not interact with others and was “hyper-vigilant.”

Dr. Nowak stated that examining a patient’s social history is one of the criteria required by psychiatric practice for making a diagnosis. Respondent’s social history was provided by his brother. Respondent was once high functioning, with a master’s degree, service in the Air Force, and 15 years’ employment with a telephone company. Then, in 1996, he was evicted because his behavior distressed the landlord, and as a result he went to live with his mother. There was at that time a dramatic change in respondent’s ability to function and he became dependent upon his mother. He was hospitalized for 76 days in 1999, and at that time he was diagnosed as being psychotic and having obsessive compulsive disorder.

Dr. Nowak stated that her knowledge of the circumstances of the present hospitalization was from respondent’s brother and reports from MacNeal Hospital and the police. Respondent’s brother heard from his mother regularly until suddenly, in August or thereafter, he stopped hearing from her. When the brother called her, respondent would answer the telephone and state that their mother was sleeping or visiting. The brother eventually called the police to check on his mother, but respondent met them at the door and told them she was sleeping. Ultimately, respondent called a funeral home, which told him to call paramedics, and it was discovered that his mother had been dead for six or seven weeks and that respondent had been living with her desiccated corpse. In the house, police found bizarre writing on the walls and on papers. Respondent was taken by the police to Mac-Neal Hospital, where a certificate for admission to Madden was issued.

Dr. Nowak gave her opinion that respondent suffered from a mental illness, namely, paranoid schizophrenia. Respondent was delusional and paranoid. Some examples included that he thought Dr. Nowak was taping their initial meeting, had hearing loss in both ears because he would not allow anyone to remove his earwax, would not use an assisted-hearing device because he said it was a tape recorder, accused a social worker of being a robot, and told Dr. Nowak that his brother has been dead from an airplane crash since 2000. Respondent’s thinking was disordered and included bizarre logic. He told Dr. Nowak that his admission resulted from a misunderstanding since his mother had been dead only a week or so instead of several weeks. Respondent was unable to function socially or in work situations, one of the criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. He had not been functioning on his own since his 1996 eviction, refused medical care, slept only two or three hours a night, and did not relate to anyone.

Dr. Nowak stated that respondent was unable to take care of his basic physical needs due to his delusional thinking causing him to misinterpret reality.

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Bluebook (online)
791 N.E.2d 80, 339 Ill. App. 3d 599, 274 Ill. Dec. 284, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-joseph-s-illappct-2003.