Nebraska Supreme Court says mental health board must reconsider sex offender's commitment

Most important here is the court holding "Forced incriminating statements, cannot later be used against the person in a criminal procedure." i.e. In the Civil commitment hearing, they CANNOT used previously forced incriminating statements (Here: forced admission of guilt in order to get into sex offender therapy during a earlier period of probation).

5-14-2011 Nebraska:

LINCOLN, Neb. — A state mental health board must reconsider a case in which it ordered a convicted sex offender held for treatment following his prison sentence, under a Nebraska Supreme Court opinion issued Friday.

The state high court's decision reversed a ruling by a Dawson County District judge in the case of a man convicted in the early 1990s of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Shortly before the man — referred to in court documents only as "A.M. Jr." — was scheduled to be released from prison in 2008, the state asked that a local mental-health board deem him a dangerous sex offender.

Using the evaluation of three state psychologists, the board concluded that A.M. was at risk of re-offending and committed him to inpatient treatment.

A.M. appealed, objecting to — among other things — the board's allowance of testimony from the psychologists about statements and other facts gathered from his 1992 third-degree sex assault conviction. A.M. was sentenced to probation in that case, but the conviction was later vacated.

Nebraska Supreme Court upholds sex offender commitment

5-20-2011 Nebraska:

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lancaster County District court did not err in approving the mental health commitment of a convicted sex offender deemed likely to re-offend, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in an opinion released Friday.

The state high court's decision upheld the ruling in the case of a man convicted in 1991 of raping a woman in her home after he spotted her sunbathing on her balcony. The man — listed in court documents only as "D.H." — was to be released from prison in 2009, but a local mental health board deemed him a dangerous sex offender likely to rape again.

The board based its determination on the testimony of two psychologists who evaluated D.H. and diagnosed him with paraphilia, a psychiatric disorder marked by deviant sexual behavior, and anti-social personality disorder. Court documents show the psychologists administered several tests to D.H., and that he scored in the high-risk category for committing a future sex offense.

High court upholds Civil Commitment

11-3-2011 New Hampshire:

The state Supreme Court yesterday upheld the 2007 law that allows the state to detain the most dangerous sex offenders past their prison sentences.

In an unanimous decision, the court affirmed the 2009 commitment of William Ploof, the first sex offender ordered held under the law. The justices rejected Ploof's arguments that the law violates constitutional protections because it doesn't require the same rules of evidence or burden of proof as criminal cases.

"(Ploof) argues that the procedures contained in (the law) carry the risk of erroneous deprivation of his liberty interests," the court said. "However, the statute affords a number of safeguards designed to protect against erroneous commitment." Among those protections, the court said, are the rights to counsel, an unanimous jury verdict, state-paid experts and an independent mental health assessment.

Ploof, 52, has been held and treated at the state's Secure Psychiatric Unit since his commitment in 2009, but he faces more prison time on another case. Ploof was convicted last month in Coos County on new charges of raping and attempting to rape a boy in the early 1980s. Ploof has not been sentenced on the new convictions.

Christopher Johnson, the public appellate defender who argued Ploof's appeal, can ask the justices to reconsider. He was out of the office yesterday and could not be reached. Thomas Bocian, who fought Ploof's appeal for the state attorney general's office, was also out of the office yesterday.

Michael Valentine, the Hillsborough County prosecutor who presented the commitment case against Ploof, said his office was pleased with the court's finding. "When sex offenders max out of prison untreated and unsupervised, they represent a real risk to the community," Valentine said by email. "Civil commitment is an important tool for protecting the public from sexually violent predators."