State v. McNutt

101 P.3d 422
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 22, 2004
Docket49917-3-I
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 101 P.3d 422 (State v. McNutt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. McNutt, 101 P.3d 422 (Wash. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

101 P.3d 422 (2004)
124 Wash.App. 344

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Jack McNUTT, Appellant.

No. 49917-3-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

November 22, 2004.

David Hirsch, Leslie J. Garrison, The Defender Association, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Joe Solseng, King County Sr. Deputy Pros. Atty, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

KENNEDY, J.

Jack McNutt stipulated to commitment as a sexually violent predator, but reserved his right to appeal certain pre-trial rulings. He contends that by denying his motion to dismiss the petition for the State's failure to plead and prove a recent overt act, the trial court erroneously relieved the State of its burden to demonstrate current dangerousness and deprived him of due process. Because *423 McNutt's incarceration at the time of the petition for communicating with a minor for immoral purposes would, under the facts of the case, constitute a recent overt act if he had been released since his conviction and committed it, the trial court properly determined that the State was not required to plead or prove a recent overt act. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTS

In 1973, Jack McNutt pleaded guilty to one count of indecent liberties and then completed a prison sentence. In March 1998, McNutt entered an Alford[1] plea to a felony charge of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. The trial court sentenced McNutt to 43 months in prison. While he was still in total confinement, the State filed a petition alleging that McNutt is a sexually violent predator under RCW 71.09.

McNutt stipulated to commitment in January 2002, reserving two issues for appeal. Following the publication of In re Detention of Thorell, 149 Wash.2d 724, 72 P.3d 708 (2003), McNutt properly conceded that the trial court did not err in its rulings regarding consideration of less restrictive alternatives. Accordingly, we do not consider that issue.

McNutt's remaining assignment of error involves the trial court's rulings related to proof of a recent overt act. In particular, relying on In re Detention of Henrickson, 140 Wash.2d 686, 2 P.3d 473 (2000), the trial court denied McNutt's motion to dismiss for the State's failure to plead and prove a recent overt act, stating:

The Henrickson court specifically ruled that convictions for first degree kidnapping and communication with a minor for "immoral purposes" would certainly qualify as either a sexually violent act or a recent overt act. The court did not focus only on the kidnapping convictions, the court specifically referred to both convictions.
This court is not in a position to go beneath the language of that plain directive by looking at the petition that was filed in Henrickson, nor does the Henrickson court require this court to engage in a fact-finding process to decide whether the facts rise to the level of satisfying the statutory definition, so relying strictly on the language in Henrickson, this court denies the defense motion to dismiss, finding that there is no need for the State to either plead or prove a recent overt act.

Report of Proceedings 1/3/02 at 7-8.

ANALYSIS

Under RCW 71.09.030(1), the State may file a sexually violent predator petition when it appears that a "person who at any time previously has been convicted of a sexually violent offense is about to be released from total confinement[.]" To satisfy due process, the indefinite civil detention of sexually violent predators must be based on findings of current mental illness and present dangerousness. In re Detention of Albrecht, 147 Wash.2d 1, 7-8, 51 P.3d 73 (2002). Where a person has been released from total confinement, current dangerousness may be demonstrated by a "recent overt act." Id. at 8, 51 P.3d 73. A recent overt act "means any act or threat that has either caused harm of a sexually violent nature or creates a reasonable apprehension of such harm in the mind of an objective person who knows of the history and mental condition of the person engaging in the act." RCW 71.09.020(10).

Although the statute does not require the State to prove a recent overt act when the petition is filed against an incarcerated person, the commitment must satisfy due process. Id. at 9, 51 P.3d 73, citing Henrickson, 140 Wash.2d at 694, 2 P.3d 473; In re Personal Restraint of Young, 122 Wash.2d 1, 27, 857 P.2d 989 (1993). If the petition is filed while the "individual is incarcerated for a sexually violent offense, or for an act that itself would have constituted a recent overt act, due process does not require the State to prove a further overt act occurred between arrest and release from incarceration." Henrickson, 140 Wash.2d at 697, 2 P.3d 473.

McNutt first contends that the trial court erred in following Henrickson because *424 communicating with a minor for immoral purposes is not a sexually violent offense as defined by RCW 71.09.020(15). But due process still would not require the State to prove an additional recent overt act if McNutt's crime of communicating with a minor itself would have constituted a recent overt act — that is, if it either caused harm of a sexually violent nature or would create a reasonable apprehension of such harm in the mind of an objective person who knows of the history and mental condition of the person engaging in the act. Henrickson, 140 Wash.2d at 697, 2 P.3d 473.

McNutt contends that his case is in the same posture as Albrecht, such that the State should have been required to plead and prove a recent overt act. But Albrecht had been released from total confinement and was again incarcerated for violating community placement conditions when the State filed its petition. Albrecht, 147 Wash.2d at 4-5, 51 P.3d 73. Because due process requires a showing of current dangerousness once an offender is released, our supreme court held that the State must plead and prove a recent overt act and cannot rely on incarceration for community placement violations. Albrecht, 147 Wash.2d at 10-11, 51 P.3d 73; see also, In re Detention of Broten, 115 Wash.App.

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Bluebook (online)
101 P.3d 422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcnutt-washctapp-2004.