Court Properly Accepted Defendant’s Consent to the Determination He Is a Sex Offender Requiring Strict and Intensive Supervision and Treatment (SIST)—The Relevant Statute Does Not Mandate a Hearing

The Second Department determined the court properly accepted defendant’s consent to the determination he is a sex offender requiring strict and intensive supervision and treatment (SIST). On appeal defendant argued that the statute required a hearing and the court should not have accepted his consent. The statute, Mental Hygiene Law 10.07 [f], states only that “[t]he parties may offer additional evidence, and the court shall hear argument … “. That language did not mandate a hearing:

Mental Hygiene Law article 10, the main component of the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act, “establishes the standards and procedures governing the civil management of sex offenders” … . Mental Hygiene Law article 10 provides that where, as here, it is determined that a person is a detained sex offender who suffers from a mental abnormality, “the court shall consider whether the [person] is a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement or a sex offender requiring [SIST]” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.07[f]). The statute further provides that, at this phase of the proceeding, “[t]he parties may offer additional evidence, [*2]and the court shall hear argument, as to that issue” (Mental Hygiene Law § 10.07[f] [emphasis added]). Contrary to the appellant’s contention, the statute does not mandate a dispositional hearing. Thus, it was not improper for the Supreme Court to accept the appellant’s decision to not offer additional evidence and to accept his consent to a determination that he is a sex offender requiring SIST … . Matter of State of New York v Wayne J., 2015 NY Slip Op 03545, 2nd Dept 4-29-15