State v. A. M.-M.
State v. A. M.-M.
Opinion of the Court
Appellant seeks reversal of a judgment adjudicating him to be mentally ill and committing him to the Oregon Health Authority under ORS 426.130(l)(b)(C).
We review the facts as they existed on the date of the commitment hearing. State v. Miller, 198 Or App 153, 155,
On December 1, 2008 — after appellant failed to take his medication for three months — he destroyed his bedroom, smeared feces on the floors and walls, and injured his hands causing them to bleed. Appellant’s grandmother testified that appellant’s room was “absolutely totally destroyed this time. Every picture — the only thing not broken was a window — the window in his bedroom. Anything breakable was on the floor in pieces.” Appellant told the court that he incurred cuts on his hands by “pushing glass through a wall.” At his commitment hearing, appellant stated that he did not intend to cut or hurt himself when pushing glass through walls, but that it was part of a religious battle he was going through at the time and that the battle had since ended. Appellant also stated that the smearing of feces was part of that battle.
Appellant’s grandmother is frail and elderly and has heart problems. Due to these physical ailments and the stress of appellant’s behavior while off medication, she testified that he could no longer live at her home. Appellant’s grandmother described him as a very charming, loving, and responsive person when he is on medication. Appellant helped her with groceries, garbage, laundry, and other household tasks. However, when appellant was off his medication, his grandmother stated that she had to ask for help with household tasks, and his assistance was not prompt.
Appellant manages his own money, receives approximately $400 in Social Security funds each month, and has about $800 in a checking account. He also has clean hygiene and has not gained or lost weight recently. During mental examinations at the commitment hearing, appellant gave
Appellant was examined by two mental health examiners during the civil commitment hearing. After questioning appellant, examiner David Mohler testified that he believed that appellant suffered from a schizophrenic mental disorder and expressed concern about appellant’s destructive behavior, “particularly pushing his hands through glass and spreading his feces around,” which Mohler described as a “regressed schizophrenic activity.” In his examiner’s report, Mohler stated that appellant “is unable to articulate any plan for self care even though he has resources he could use to secure food and housing.” Examiner Fonda Edelson drew a similar determination, testifying that appellant’s disorganization, impaired judgment, and schizophrenic traits made him unable to care for himself. In her examiner’s report, Edelson stated that appellant’s inability “to formulate and execute a plan for his basic needs” was evidence of appellant’s inability to provide for his basic needs.
The trial court agreed with the examiners’ assessments and had appellant committed because his mental disorder made him unable to provide for his basic needs and he was a danger to himself. The court stated that
“he continues to be very psychotic, he continues to be involved in spiritual battles, he — and continues to be unable to organize his thoughts well enough to provide me with a reasonable and credible plan.”
The court ordered appellant to be committed for a period not to exceed 180 days.
On appeal, appellant argues that the state failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that his mental disorder made him unable to provide for his basic needs or that he was a danger to himself. As noted earlier, we agree that
ORS 426.005(l)(e)(B) defines a “mentally ill person” as a person, who, because of a mental disorder, is “[u]nable to provide for basic personal needs and is not receiving such care as is necessary for health or safety.” Sufficient proof to commit a “mentally ill person” on that basis under ORS 426.130(l)(b) “requires more than evidence of speculative threats to safe survival.” State v. M. C., 227 Or App 530, 534, 206 P3d 1096 (2009). In order to commit a person on “basic needs” grounds,
“[t]he state must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the individual, due to a mental disorder, is unable to obtain some commodity (e.g., food and water) or service (e.g., life-saving medical care) without which he cannot sustain life.”
State v. Bunting, 112 Or App 143, 145, 826 P2d 1060 (1992).
Put another way, the “basic needs” standard requires clear and convincing evidence that “there is a likelihood that the person probably would not survive in the near future because the person is unable to provide for basic personal needs.” Id. at 146. Furthermore, the “clear and convincing evidence” standard of proof requires that the state produce evidence that is of “extraordinary persuasiveness” and that makes the facts at issue “highly probable.” State v. Allen, 209 Or App 647, 652, 149 P3d 289 (2006). Although “[t]he goal of the commitment statute is safe survival, not merely the avoidance of immediate death,” and therefore the state “need not postpone action until the individual is on the brink of death,” Bunting, 112 Or App at 145, the state has not shown in this case that appellant’s refusal to take his medication and inability to organize a plan for his care presents an imminent likelihood that he would not survive in the near future.
The facts in this case are analogous to those in State v. Baxter, 138 Or App 94, 906 P2d 849 (1995). Although
Like the alleged mentally ill person in Baxter, appellant was diagnosed with schizophrenia, was off his medication, subsisted on Social Security funds, and planned to live without shelter on release. As in Baxter, appellant’s failure to treat his schizophrenia was proved to be only a speculative threat to his well-being. The minor cuts that appellant inflicted on himself while pushing glass through walls were not life threatening. Appellant’s failure to take his prescribed medication caused a change in his behavior, but that behavior was not so severe as to cause a threat to his survival. Although it seems plausible that appellant will not have housing services available on release, as we said in Baxter, homelessness is not adequate justification for involuntary commitment. Id. at 99. In order for homelessness to be sufficient justification, there needs to be “a likelihood that the person probably would not survive in the near future because the person is unable to provide for basic personal needs and is not receiving care necessary for health or safety.” Bunting, 112 Or App at 146. Here, nothing in the record indicates that to be the case.
Appellant has not lacked housing, food, or medical care in the past. There is little evidence in the record from
Reversed.
ORS 426.130(1) provides:
“After hearing all of the evidence, and reviewing the findings of the examining persons, the court shall determine whether the person is mentally ill. If, in the opinion of the court, the person is:
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“(b) Mentally ill based upon clear and convincing evidence, the court:
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“(C) May order commitment of the individual to the Oregon Health Authority for treatment if, in the opinion of the court, subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph is not in the best interest of the mentally ill person. If the court orders commitment under this subparagraph:
“(i) The court shall establish a period of commitment.
“(ii) The authority may place the committed person in outpatient commitment under ORS 426.127.”
ORS 426.005(l)(e) provides, in part, that a “ ‘[m]entally ill person’ means a person who, because of a mental disorder, is one or more of the following:
“(A) Dangerous to self or others.
“(B) Unable to provide for basic personal needs and is not receiving such care as is necessary for health or safety.”
This appeal was filed before June 4, 2009, the effective date of Oregon Laws 2009, chapter 231. That law, which amends ORS 19.415, changed the de novo standard of review for equitable proceedings that we have applied in review of mental commitment cases.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the Matter of A. M.-M., Alleged to be a Mentally Ill Person. STATE OF OREGON v. A. M.-M.
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published