Judge denies release for man awaiting second trial on sexual predator status

6-26-2013 Kansas:

A Sedgwick County District Court Judge has denied a request to release a man awaiting his second trial to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator.

An attorney for Rafe Jay Davis argued Tuesday that because his client’s first trial ended with a hung jury the state did not sufficiently meet its burden of proof and Davis should be freed.

“The jury was asked the question: ‘Was Mr. Davis a violent sexual predator?’,” defense attorney Gerald Domitrovic said of the five-day trial, which left jurors deadlocked 9-3 in April. “... If it’s less than unanimous, the state did not meet it’s burden and he should be released.”

He added that the state should have only “one shot” to prove its case, regardless of a verdict is reached.

According state statute, a person deemed a sexually violent predator must have prior violent sex crime charges or convictions and suffer from a mental illness or personality disorder that increases the likelihoood he or she will reoffend.

Judge: Sex offender must remain under supervision

12-11-2014 Wisconsin:

A judge determined after a 4½-hour court trial Wednesday that Kerry Abbott, deemed a sexually violent person in 2001, will remain under supervision.

Abbott, 56, who has lived alone at a rural Arkansaw residence since July 2012, petitioned for discharge from supervision. A handful of psychological reports in recent years recommended he be released because he was abiding by conditions of his release and was not likely to reoffend.

Trempealeau County Judge John Damon, after reviewing Abbott’s lengthy list of sexual assaults and hearing a psychologist say Abbott was about 30 percent likely to reoffend if released, was not persuaded to release him.

“It’s a tool,” Damon said, referring to an actuarial (statistical calculation) that indicated Abbott would not likely reoffend. “This assessment tool isn’t meant to replace the judgment of the court as to what the risk is in the future. There would be no need for this hearing if all we had to do was spit this into an actuarial.”

Damon said the severity of Abbott’s offenses, along with a statement he made while under supervised release in 1994, that he may kill his next victim, factored into the judge’s decision.

“A 30 percent chance of recidivism that he might commit another sexual assault ... is a pretty high percentage,” he said.

Jury decides to keep Skagit County sex offender in custody

1-22-16 Washington:

MOUNT VERNON — Jurors decided Tuesday to keep Gregory Coley in custody at the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, determining that Coley is a dangerous sexual predator and should remain confined in the interest of public safety, according to the state Attorney General’s office.

A trial began Jan. 11 in Skagit County Superior Court to determine if Coley, 36, still meets the criteria to be deemed a sexually violent predator.

State law says a person convicted of a sex offense and found by a judge or jury to be a sexually violent predator can be civilly committed into state custody after he or she has completed a criminal sentence.

A sexually violent predator must have been convicted of a sexually violent crime and suffer from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes future criminal sexual conduct likely, according to state law.

Judge declines to release serial rapist from state control

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7-8-15 Florida:

Following the advice of mental health evaluators, a judge has declined to release from state control a serial rapist who roamed southeast Ocala in the mid-1980s.

Frank Kash, 59, waived his appearance at a Tuesday hearing, during which Assistant Public Defender Susan Bailey said she had no evidence to contradict the evaluation of her client.

Kash pleaded guilty to sexual battery, robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection to a rape case in February 1985. His prison term in that case ended in 2003.

The Jimmy Ryce Act, enacted in 1999, states that before inmates with histories of sex offenses are released from prison they are evaluated to determine the level of risk for re-offense. Sometimes the inmates can be subject to civil proceedings and commitment to a facility for treatment.

Jimmy Ryce was a 9-year-old South Florida boy who was kidnapped, raped, murdered and dismembered in 1995 by Juan Carlos Chavez, who died by lethal injection in 2014. In the aftermath of the boy’s death, his family successfully lobbied for tighter restrictions on sexual offenders.

In 2003, prosecutors were seeking to commit Kash under the Jimmy Ryce Act. Before any proceeding took place, Kash stipulated, against his attorney’s advice, that he be committed to the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia indefinitely.

According to Bailey, her client is currently in the custody of the Department of Corrections, not the commitment center.

State prison records show Kash began serving a five-year prison sentence for aggravated assault in June 2012.

At the end of Tuesday’s hearing, Circuit Judge Jonathan Ohlman told the attorneys to make arrangements to have Kash re-evaluated again next year, as required by law.

Back in 1985, part of Kash’s plea agreement called for him to speak with law enforcement about other sexual assaults in the area. Kash, dubbed the “Southeast Rapist” by law enforcement, confessed to seven other rapes between February 1984 and March 1985 and 20 auto burglaries in about the same period of time. He was linked to four other rapes - which he did not confess to - by hair sample comparisons.

Kash was never prosecuted for any of the other rape cases because, according to the State Attorney’s Office, during the 1980s technology was far less advanced than today and not enough evidence existed for those cases to proceed to trial. ..Source.. by April Warren

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