Case Name: In the Matter of State of New York, Respondent, v. Kenneth W., Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2015-09-29
Citations: 131 A.D.3d 872
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of State of New York, Respondent, v Kenneth W., Appellant.
Judges: Concur — Gonzalez, P.J., Sweeny, Renwick, Saxe and Feinman, JJ.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 131
Pages: 872–873

Head Matter:
(September 29, 2015)
In the Matter of State of New York, Respondent, v Kenneth W., Appellant.
[16 NYS3d 733]

Opinion:
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Daniel Me Cullough, J.), entered on or about January 28, 2014, which, upon a jury verdict that respondent suffers from a mental abnormality, determined, after a dispositional hearing, that he is a dangerous sex offender requiring confinement in a secure treatment facility, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the petition dismissed.
The verdict that respondent suffers from a mental abnormality is based on legally insufficient evidence. Evidence of an independent mental abnormality diagnosis is required to establish a mental abnormality within the meaning of Mental Hygiene Law article 10 (see Matter of State of New York v Donald DD., 24 NY3d 174, 190-191 [2014]). Here, we find that based on the trial evidence, a rational factfinder could not conclude that sexual preoccupation is an independent mental abnormality. The State failed to present evidence that sexual preoccupation is a condition that predisposes one to commit a sex offense and results in serious difficulty in controlling the sexually offending conduct (see Matter of State of New York v Gen C., 128 AD3d 467 [1st Dept 2015]; Mental Hygiene Law § 10.03 [i]).
Concur — Gonzalez, P.J., Sweeny, Renwick, Saxe and Feinman, JJ.