State v. J. J. S. (In re J. J. S.)

444 P.3d 1141, 297 Or. App. 856
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided June 5, 2019·No. A168621·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

DeVORE, J.

*857Appellant seeks reversal of an order of civil commitment. She argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to dismiss, because she was held for more than five judicial days prior to a hearing. The state attributes the delay to appellant's attorney. Because the delay cannot be explained that way, we reverse.

Appellant's mental health providers placed her under a hospital hold on July 31, 2018, pursuant to ORS 426.232.1 Four judicial days later, on August 6, 2018, the trial court issued an order setting the civil commitment hearing for the next day, August 7, the fifth judicial day after the hospital hold began. On August 7, appellant's attorney arrived late for a hearing that was scheduled before appellant's hearing. Although the prior hearing was unrelated to appellant's hearing, the attorney's tardiness delayed the prior hearing, leaving no time for appellant's hearing. Appellant's hearing had been set as the last on the docket for the day. On its own motion, the trial court ordered that appellant's hearing would be postponed to the next day, due to the court's inability to conduct the hearing.

*1143At the commitment hearing on August 8, a new attorney represented appellant. Appellant moved to dismiss the case, because the court did not hold the hearing within five judicial days of the hospital hold and because the delay could not be explained by postponement at the request of a party. See ORS 426.095(2)(c) (providing for good *858cause postponement when requested by the parties).2 The trial court denied appellant's motion, concluding that the court was "not physically able" to conduct appellant's hearing on the prior day because of her counsel's tardiness to the earlier hearing and restrictions on the court's ability to hold after-hours hearings. After an evidentiary hearing, the court committed appellant for no more than 180 days.

On appeal, appellant assigns error to the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss, arguing that dismissal was required for failure to conduct a hearing within the five-day period required by ORS 426.232(2). Appellant acknowledges that the statute authorizes the court to postpone a hearing on the motion of a party for "good cause" under ORS 426.095 (2)(c), but she argues that the statute does not authorize the court to postpone the hearing on its own motion. The state responds that the trial court did not commit reversible error, because appellant "invited" any error because her attorney appeared late at the earlier hearing for a different client on August 7, and that, in turn, caused the court to postpone this matter.

We have previously observed that, under ORS 426.232(2), a licensed independent practitioner

"may detain a person for emergency care or treatment for mental illness, provided that the [licensed independent practitioner] immediately notifies certain specified local mental health personnel. However, the person may not be held for longer than five judicial days without a hearing except in certain circumstances. ORS 426.232(2) ; ORS 426.234(4) ; ORS 426.095(2). See State v. A. E. B. , 196 Or. App. 634, 635, 106 P.3d 647 (2004) (so explaining)."

State v. W. B. R. , 282 Or. App. 727, 728, 387 P.3d 482 (2016). Those limited circumstances are provided by ORS 426.095.

*859That statute "permits a 'good cause' postponement of a commitment hearing past the five-day judicial deadline, [but] that procedure is available only 'when requested' by certain parties, and only 'to allow preparation for the hearing.' " W. B. R. , 282 Or. App. at 728, 387 P.3d 482 (quoting ORS 426.095(2)(c) ). The statute does not, however, authorize the court to postpone the hearing on its own motion. And we have consistently reversed civil commitment orders where appellants were held for longer than five judicial days in violation of ORS 426.232(2) and where none of the limited exceptions provided by the statute applied. See, e.g. , State v. C. J. W. , 289 Or. App. 63, 65, 407 P.3d 979 (2017) ; State v. L. O. W. , 292 Or. App. 376, 382, 424 P.3d 789 (2018) ; State v. B. L. H. , 287 Or. App. 885, 886, 403 P.3d 538 (2017) ; State v. J. N. , 279 Or. App. 607

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State v. J. J. S. (In re J. J. S.), 444 P.3d 1141, 297 Or. App. 856 (Or. Ct. App. 2019).

444 P.3d 1141 (State v. J. J. S. (In re J. J. S.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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