Ryan v. Moore

885 S.W.2d 722, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1321
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 16, 1994
DocketNo. WD 48426
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 885 S.W.2d 722 (Ryan v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryan v. Moore, 885 S.W.2d 722, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1321 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

SPINDEN, Judge.

Craig Moore appeals a jury’s verdict finding him incapacitated and disabled and in need of a guardian and conseivator. He contends the trial court erred by (1) admitting into evidence letters he had written, (2) allowing testimony and evidence regarding his prior involuntary civil commitment, and (3) allowing testimony about his refusal to discuss a mental health discharge plan with health professionals. Moore also asserts the tidal court erred in overruling his motions for directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, his motion for new trial. He contends that insufficient evidence supported the jury’s verdict that he was incapacitated and disabled. We disagree with his contentions and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

In 1984, Moore married and moved to Kansas City. About six months later, he divorced his wife. Moore was distraught [724]*724over the divorce and gradually became a recluse.

For a year, he attended a broadcasting school in Detroit, Michigan. When he returned to Kansas City, he got a job at a grocery store, rented an apartment, and owned a car. When his mother was transferred to Arizona because of her job, Moore moved into her house. He quit his job in June 1992. While living in his mother’s house, Moore paid a neighbor boy to buy groceries for him.

In August 1992, Moore’s mother, while still in Arizona, received a warning from city authorities that she would be fined if the grass at her Kansas City house was not mowed. She was unaware at that time of any problems her son may be having. She arranged for someone in Kansas City to mow the lawn, but when the person attempted to mow, Moore became irate. The police placed Moore in involuntary civil commitment at the Western Missouri Mental Health Center in Kansas City for 96 hours.

Moore’s mother returned to Kansas City. She discovered that nearly all of Moore’s personal belongings, including his furniture and car, were gone. She found no food in the house, and her son was “terribly skinny,” having lost as much as 50 pounds since she had last seen him. Moore’s mother decided to retire early so she could return to Kansas City to care for him.

After that, Moore rarely ventured from his room. He went out only to buy cigarettes about every three weeks. He expressed fear of the “mafia” and other evil forces.

Moore ate in his room and spent all of his time there working on what he called a “project.” He would work endlessly for two or three days and nights, recording tapes. He would then sleep for two or three days. Moore’s mother told the court:

[H]e’s overseeing the media and the bad influences here in Kansas City. He does not read the Kansas City paper and, because it contains things that he believes is unhealthy out here. He believes that the Mafia is in control of the city.... And he, he thinks that the postal police are after him and that various other groups that are trying to intimidate him and keep him from doing his work and sending his work off that he sends to the broadcasting school where he went to school in Detroit .... He makes these tapes and he puts them in an envelope and he puts stamps on them and puts them out in the mailbox to go. He’s finding all his resources, he says. And this is what he believes that he’s working. He believes he’s working.

She said that he had never received any response to his letters.

Moore’s mother told the court that she provided everything for Moore. She said:

I go to the store and I buy stamps for his little tapes that he sends off. I buy groceries for him, I put them in the house. And he, he’ll cook an egg or bacon or something like that, but mainly I’ll cook a dinner and just leave it. And he comes and eats and takes it in his room.
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[H]e eats whenever he’s hungry, I may fix something at noon and he may not eat it until the nighttime.

She said that she attempted to get Social Security disability benefits for him, but he refused to cooperate because he believed that it was part of the Kansas City mafia. He also refused to submit to dental and eye exams.

Moore was able to count money and make change. He had no assets, bank accounts or bonds. His mother said, “He believes that he’s gonna receive money for ... tapes that he’s been sending off to Spec Howard Broadcasting School in Detroit, Michigan.”

Moore’s mother described her son as smart, eloquent, and able to discuss any subject “up to a superficial layer.” She said, “He can talk on a superficial level, but he looses [sic] it after he gets down to basic things, like he believes that the radio and the T.V. are talking to him. I’ve discussed this with him[.] I said[,] [‘T]hey don’t talk to me.[’] He said, [‘Y]ou wouldn’t understand if they did.[’]” She said that he was exceptionally clean and cared for his own personal hygiene. He was capable of dressing him[725]*725self, washing his clothes, and keeping his room clean.

In February 1993, Moore’s mother signed papers requesting that Moore be committed to a mental health facility for observation and evaluation. Marita Kennedy, a mental health coordinator for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, attempted to interview Moore at home on February 24, 1993. Moore came out of his room for less than five minutes. He appeared to be angry and agitated and went back into his room and slammed the door.

Kennedy decided that Moore should be held at Trinity Lutheran Hospital for 96 hours as his mother requested. A judge ordered involuntary placement at the facility. The police took Moore to the hospital on March 1, 1993.

Moore told a social worker at Trinity that his previous involuntary commitment had interrupted his “research on changing bioms into miniature bioms.” While at the hospital, he gradually withdrew and spent most of his time in his room. He eventually refused to interact with a social worker, a therapist, or other patients. He refused to discuss his plans concerning where to live and how to obtain food. He refused to discuss his problems.

A social worker decided that Moore would not be able to get a job, find shelter, or meet his health care needs. She said that Moore was almost paralyzed with fear, and added, “I don’t believe that he can make decisions in his own behalf if his judgment is impaired. He might get himself into situations where he cannot get himself out of. He may not be able to interact with people in a logical, socially appropriate manner.”

The social worker acknowledged, however, that Moore’s case was difficult for her:

On one level he is quite articulate. I know that he’s well educated. He can converse initially in a very apparently appropriate manner_ And his explanations for his actions appear in some ways to be logical!;] however, when one probes beneath the surface, it’s apparent that he has some ideas that are not true. He bases his behavior and his actions on those ideas_ He’s not obviously psychotic. He denied hearing voices. He denies having visual hallucinations. He’s obviously under control physically. He does not argue excessively with people. So, on the surface he presents very well.

She believed that he would not be able to provide for his health, welfare and safety:

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Bluebook (online)
885 S.W.2d 722, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryan-v-moore-moctapp-1994.