Case ID: ad2d_30/html/0810-03.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

In the Matter of Ernest Spence, Appellant, v. Narcotic Addiction Control Commission, Respondent.
   Order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, dated December 18, 1967, affirmed, without costs. In our opinion, a jury review of an order of certification, pursuant to subdivision 7 of section 206 of the Mental Hygiene Law, is unavailable to a certified addict who, when brought before the court upon a petition made by someone other than himself, has voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to a hearing, admitted his addiction and consented to certification and commitment. In such a case, the addict has placed himself in the same position as a self-petitioner, who is not granted such review by the statute. Furthermore, appellant’s decision not to contest certification and his consent to commitment for treatment of his addiction constituted a waiver of any right he might otherwise have had to a statutory review. However, appellant is not without remedy to test the legality of his commitment, should he be advised to contest it (see Mental Hygiene Law, § 206, subd. 8). Christ, Acting P. J., Rabin, Benjamin, Munder and Martuscello, JJ., concur.