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THE PROVISION OF MENTAL HYGIENE LAW SECTION 10 THAT ALLOWS A COURT TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE PETITIONER, WHO HAD BEEN RELEASED TO A STRICT AND INTENSIVE SUPERVISION AND TREATEMENT (SIST) REGIMEN, IS A DANGEROUS SEX OFFENDER REQUIRING CONFINEMENT IS NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court in this habeas corpus proceeding, determined the “provision of Mental Hygiene Law § 10.11(d)(4) that directs the court to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that a respondent in a proceeding pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law article 10 is a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement based upon a review of the allegations in a petition for confinement and any accompanying papers does not violate that respondent’s federal or state rights to due process.” The court further determined the issue raised here might recur so the appeal was not rendered moot by the petitioner’s release “to a regimen of strict and intensive supervision and treatment (… SIST):

Mental Hygiene Law § 10.11 permits the court to revoke a regimen of SIST upon a violation of SIST conditions and sets forth the required procedures for such a revocation … . The statute provides, as relevant here, that if a parole officer has “reasonable cause to believe” that a sex offender requiring SIST has violated a condition thereof, the offender can be taken into custody for five days for an evaluation by a psychiatric examiner, and the attorney general and the Mental Hygiene Legal Service (hereinafter MHLS) are to be promptly notified … . The attorney general may then file a petition for confinement within five days after the offender is taken into custody, which petition must be served promptly on MHLS, and counsel must be appointed for the offender … . If a petition for confinement is filed, “the court shall promptly review the petition and, based on the allegations in the petition and any accompanying papers, determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the [offender] is a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement” … . There is no provision permitting the offender an opportunity to be heard prior to the probable cause determination. Once the probable cause determination is made, the offender may be retained pending the conclusion of the proceeding … . “Within thirty days after a petition for confinement is filed . . . , the court shall conduct a hearing” to make a final determination, but the failure to commence the hearing within that time period does not result in dismissal of the petition or “affect the validity of the hearing or the determination” … . People ex rel. Neville v Toulon, 2023 NY Slip Op 02015, Second Dept 4-19-23

Practice Point; The provision of Mental Hygiene Law section 10 that allows a court to determine whether there is probable cause to believe petitioner, who had been released to a SIST regimen, is a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement is not unconstitutional.

Practice Point: Although at the time of this appeal in this habeas corpus proceeding petitioner had been released to a SIST regimen, the issue is likely to recur so the “exception to the mootness doctrine” doctrine was invoked.

 

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