State of New York v. Rashid

942 N.E.2d 225, 16 N.Y.3d 1
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 23, 2010
Docket205
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 942 N.E.2d 225 (State of New York v. Rashid) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of New York v. Rashid, 942 N.E.2d 225, 16 N.Y.3d 1 (N.Y. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

Read, J.

In this appeal, we are called upon to resolve issues of interpretation of article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law, the key component of the recently enacted Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act (SOMTA) (L 2007, ch 7). We hold that in order to pursue civil management under article 10, the Attorney General must file the required petition against an individual in a court of competent jurisdiction before that individual’s release from State custody or supervision. We also hold that Penal Law § 70.30 is not relevant to the question of which sentences make someone eligible for civil management under article 10.

I

On January 6, 1992, respondent Mustafa Rashid pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree robbery (Penal Law § 160.15), and single counts of first-degree burglary (Penal Law § 140.30), first-degree rape (Penal Law § 130.35), and first-degree sodomy (former Penal Law § 130.50). This plea satisfied charges arising from two separate criminal incidents—the robbery of a gas station attendant and a home invasion—for which [5]*5Rashid was arrested and indicted separately in 1988. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of 8 to 16 years, running from his arrest.

Rashid was released to parole supervision in July 1999, after serving 11 years and eight months of his sentence. But on May 19, 2000, he was arrested and indicted separately for three robberies. On December 12, 2001, he pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree robbery (Penal Law § 160.05), for each of which he was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 2 to 4 years, and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (Penal Law § 265.01), for which he was sentenced to prison for one year. The indictment satisfied by Rashid’s plea to the weapon-possession count also accused him of sexual abuse. These sentences ran concurrently to each other but consecutively to the undischarged portion of the indeterminate sentence imposed on Rashid in 1992 (see Penal Law § 70.25 [2-a]; see also People ex rel. Gill v Greene, 12 NY3d 1, 6 [2009]). He was subsequently released to parole supervision on January 6, 2006.

Rashid was returned to prison for violating the conditions of his parole in July 2006. He was released to parole supervision again in April 2007, but went back to prison after violating the conditions of his parole in August of that year. Rashid was next released to parole supervision in early 2008. He was arrested for the misdemeanor crimes of petit larceny (Penal Law § 155.25) and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree (Penal Law § 165.40) on May 6, 2008. Upon pleading guilty to petit larceny, Rashid received a definite sentence, which he served at Rikers Island, a local correctional facility. Rashid remained subject to the supervision of the State Division of Parole (the Division) throughout his time at Rikers Island, but his parole was not revoked, apparently because his jail sentence ended days before his parole expiration date: Rashid was freed from Rikers Island on October 31, 2008, and his parole supervision ended on November 4, 2008, when he reached the maximum term (20 years) of his consecutive indeterminate sentences.

On November 5, 2008, the Attorney General filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking sex offender civil management of Rashid pursuant to article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law. SOMTA and article 10 are designed to reduce the risks posed by and to address the treatment needs of those sex offenders who suffer from mental abnormalities that predispose them to commit repeated sex crimes (see Mental Hygiene Law §§ 10.01,10.03 [i]). To these ends, whenever an individual “who may be a [6]*6detained sex offender” is “nearing an anticipated release”1 into the community, an “agency with jurisdiction”2 other than the Division must notify the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Mental Health (the Commissioner), while the Division may elect to do so (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.05 [b]). As relevant to this appeal, a “detained sex offender” is

“a person who is in the care, custody, control, or supervision of an agency with jurisdiction, with respect to a sex offense or designated felony, in that the person is either:
“(1) A person who stands convicted of a sex offense as defined in subdivision (p) of this section [10.03], and is currently serving a sentence for, or subject to supervision by the division of parole, whether on parole or on post-release supervision, for such offense or for a related offense; . . .
“(4) A person who stands convicted of a designated felony that was sexually motivated and committed prior to the effective date of this article [10].” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.03 [g] [1], [4].)

Again as relevant to this appeal, a “sex offense” includes felonies defined in article 130 of the Penal Law and any felony attempt or conspiracy to commit those crimes, as well as “a designated felony ... if sexually motivated and committed prior to” article 10’s effective date (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.03 [p]). The list of “designated felon[ies]” encompasses a broad range of felony crimes, including assault, gang assault, stalking, manslaughter, murder, kidnaping, burglary, arson, robbery, various prostitution and obscenity offenses, crimes involving sexual performance by a child, and any felony attempt or conspiracy to commit the enumerated crimes. “Related offenses” include “any offenses that are prosecuted as part of the same criminal action or proceeding, or which are part of the same criminal [7]*7transaction, or which are the bases of the orders of commitment received by the department of correctional services in connection with an inmate’s current term of incarceration” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.03 [Z]).

Upon receipt of section 10.05 (b) notice, the Commissioner is authorized to “designate multidisciplinary staff’ at the Office of Mental Health (OMH) to conduct “a preliminary review” of the need for “the person who is the subject of the notice” to be evaluated by a three-member “case review team,” at least two of whose members must be “professionals in the field of mental health or the field of developmental disabilities, as appropriate, with experience in the treatment, diagnosis, risk assessment or management of sex offenders” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.05 [a], [d]). If the staff decides after preliminary review to make a referral to a case review team, notice must be given to the individual whose case is to be referred (whom the statute identifies as “the respondent” at this point)3 (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.05 [e]).

The case review team considers a variety of records, may arrange for a psychiatric examination, and ultimately determines whether the respondent is a “sex offender requiring civil management”—i.e., is both “detained” within the meaning of section 10.03 (g) and suffers from a “mental abnormality” as defined by section 10.03 (i)4 (see Mental Hygiene Law § 10.03 [q]). If the case review team determines that the respondent is not a sex offender requiring civil management, it notifies the respondent and the Attorney General, who then “shall not file a sex offender civil management petition” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.05 [f]).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bennett v. Dill
E.D. New York, 2022
White v. LaClair
E.D. New York, 2021
Matter of State of New York v. Robert G.
2020 NY Slip Op 9 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2020)
Matter of State of New York v. Kerry K.
2017 NY Slip Op 8671 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2017)
State v. Philip B.
138 A.D.3d 1124 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016)
State v. Baker
46 Misc. 3d 824 (New York Supreme Court, 2014)
Matter of State of New York v. Claude McC.
122 A.D.3d 65 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)
People v. Brinson
995 N.E.2d 144 (New York Court of Appeals, 2013)
STATE OF NEW YORK v. MATTER, MICHAEL
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2013
State v. Matter
103 A.D.3d 1113 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2013)
State v. Robert F.
101 A.D.3d 1133 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012)
State v. Geoffrey P.
100 A.D.3d 911 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012)
STATE OF NEW YORK v. WILLIAMS, NUSHAWN
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012
State v. Williams
92 A.D.3d 1274 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012)
STATE OF NEW YORK v. REEVE, KEITH
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011
State v. Reeve
87 A.D.3d 1378 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011)
State v. Daniel OO.
88 A.D.3d 212 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011)
State v. Maurice G.
32 Misc. 3d 380 (New York Supreme Court, 2011)
State of New York v. Rashid
942 N.E.2d 225 (New York Court of Appeals, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
942 N.E.2d 225, 16 N.Y.3d 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-new-york-v-rashid-ny-2010.