Title: State v. Huntley
Citation: 302 Or. 418, 730 P.2d 1234
Docket Number: N/A
State: Oregon
Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court
Date: December 30, 1986

730 P.2d 1234 (1986)
302 Or. 418
STATE of Oregon, Respondent On Review,
v.
George Manley HUNTLEY, Petitioner On Review.
CC J85-0876; CA A38016; SC S33037.

Supreme Court of Oregon, In Banc.
Argued and Submitted October 8, 1986.
December 30, 1986.
*1235 Lawrence J. Hall, Salem, argued the cause for petitioner on review. On the petition was Gary D. Babcock, Public Defender, Salem.
Thomas H. Denney, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem, argued the cause for respondent on review.
JONES, Justice.
Defendant, George M. Huntley, pled guilty to a charge of sodomy in the first degree, a Class A felony. ORS 163.405. The victim of the crime was defendant's 11-year-old niece. At the time of this offense, defendant was on temporary leave from the Oregon State Penitentiary where he was serving consecutive 20-year sentences stemming from his conviction in March 1978 for sodomy in the first degree and rape in the first degree. In both prior offenses defendant threatened the victims with a weapon.
After the plea to the current charge, the state requested the court to find that defendant was a dangerous offender under ORS 161.725, which provides that a court may sentence a defendant convicted of a Class A felony to imprisonment of 30 years if the court finds, among other things, that defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity. Dr. Charles Holland, a psychiatrist, examined defendant in connection with the sentencing proceeding. Dr. Holland reported to the court as follows:
The trial judge held that he was not bound by Dr. Holland's diagnosis and prognosis and made his own conclusions whether this defendant was a dangerous offender under ORS 161.725. The trial judge stated that while he was required to consider the psychiatric report he was not bound by that report in reaching a conclusion whether defendant had a severe personality disorder, relying on State v. Hunter, 58 Or. App. 99, 647 P.2d 943 (1982), rev. den. 294 Or. 391, 656 P.2d 945 (1983); State v. Sanders, 35 Or. App. 503, 582 P.2d 22 (1978), rev. den. 285 Or. 195 (1979); and State v. Klenk, 19 Or. App. 684, 528 P.2d 1092 (1974).
The trial judge then found that defendant was a dangerous offender under ORS 161.725 and sentenced him to 30 years' imprisonment with a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years. This sentence was imposed to run consecutive to the sentences defendant was currently serving. In reaching this conclusion the trial judge considered the absolute lack of rehabilitation demonstrated by defendant's commission of this offense, defendant's previous convictions for similar offenses, the proximity of time between defendant's release and the commission of the crime, and Dr. Holland's observations.
The Court of Appeals affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence from the bench. We allowed review to interpret the dangerous offender statutes and specifically to decide (1) whether the legislature intended that an opinion of a psychiatrist that a defendant is suffering from a "severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity" is essential to the sentencing of a defendant as a dangerous offender under ORS 161.725, and (2) whether a defendant can be sentenced as a dangerous offender when the only psychiatric report considered by the court pursuant to ORS 161.735(6) concludes that the defendant does not suffer from a severe personality disorder with a propensity toward criminal activity.
ORS 161.725 provides:
Thus, in order for a sentencing judge to apply ORS 161.725 to a defendant, the judge must first declare that he has reason to believe that because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confinement is required for the protection of the public and make appropriate findings on the record to justify that belief. Further, the judge must find that the defendant is being sentenced for a Class A felony or a felony that seriously endangered the life or safety of another and has been previously convicted of a felony not related to the instant crime as a single criminal episode. After making these findings, the judge must order a presentence report and psychiatric examination of the defendant. The court then must conduct a presentence hearing unless waived by the defendant. At the hearing the judge must consider the presentence report, the psychiatric report, and the evidence in the case or evidence presented at the presentence hearing. The judge then must make findings that (1) the defendant is dangerous, (2) because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confinement is required for the protection of the public, and (3) the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.
ORS 161.735 provides in relevant part:
The current Oregon Criminal Code, of which ORS 161.725 and 161.735 are part, is the product of three years of concerted effort by the Oregon Criminal Law Revision Commission. That commission was created by the 1967 legislature and submitted its final draft of the code in July 1970. The code (Senate Bill 40) was enacted by the 56th Legislative Assembly, Or. Laws 1971, ch. 743, and became effective January 1, 1972, as amended.
ORS 161.725 and 161.735 were sections 85 and 86, respectively, of the 1970 final draft, and were approved by the 1971 legislature without amendment.
A review of the legislative history of the dangerous offender statutes is beneficial in explaining our decision on this matter. The official commentary to section 86 of the Proposed Oregon Criminal Code 83 (1970), now ORS 161.735, states:
In his testimony before the Senate Criminal Law and Procedure Committee on February 17, 1971, Mr. Donald L. Paillette, the project director for the preparation of the 1970 final draft and report of the Proposed Oregon Criminal Code, was questioned on the intent of section 86. Mr. Paillette stated that the language and intent of section 86 was based on former ORS 137.111 to 137.115 (repealed by Or. Laws 1971, ch. 743, § 432) and the Model Sentencing Act, Council of Judges of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, New York (1963). At that time, ORS 137.111 stated:
The legislature adopted the wording of the 1963 Model Sentencing Act 1963 regarding dangerous offender sentencing, which read:
When asked how the determination of a severe personality disorder would be made, Mr. Paillette acknowledged that the statute provided no specific criteria. The determination of the types of tests, the type of examination, and the diagnosis of any mental disorder would be made by the psychiatrist. Nothing in Mr. Paillette's testimony suggested that he felt a psychiatric diagnosis within the terms of the statute was a prerequisite or essential to the application of the statute if the evidence could be obtained from other sources. This would be consistent with the stated objective of section 86 of placing as much information before the court as possible from which the court could make an intelligent decision.
ORS 161.735(6) states:
The commentary to the 1963 Model Sentencing Act did not discuss in any detail how the determination of a "severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity" would be made. In 1972 that wording of the Model Sentencing Act pertaining to dangerous offenders was changed to require the court to find that the defendant "is suffering from a severe mental or emotional disorder indicating a propensity toward continuing dangerous criminal activity." Model Sentencing Act, supra at 7 (2d ed 1972). The comment to this wording specifically refers to the Oregon dangerous offender statutes. It reads:
As to the change of wording, the commentary reads:
What is the relevance of the discussion of the Model Sentencing Act's comments to sentencing under its amended language when the Oregon legislature left the statute in its original form calling only for a finding of a "severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity"? It can be relevant only if it reflects the view of the drafters of the 1963 Model Sentencing Act that was the basis for Oregon's law as well as their view of the 1972 text. Of course, the 1972 modification of the Model Sentencing Act that the court must find the defendant "is suffering from a severe mental or emotional disorder indicating a propensity toward continuing dangerous criminal activity" does not change the meaning of the Oregon statutes. However, we do not think the change in language is significant for interpretation purposes. The authors of the Model Sentencing Act assert that the language was changed only to emphasize that the diagnosis would be that of a lay person and not of a behavioral scientist. Both the Oregon statutes and the amended Model Sentencing Act are aimed at dealing with *1240 dangerous offenders who are apt to repeat dangerous activity and not offenders who merely repeat non-dangerous criminal activity. The comments to the 1972 Model Sentencing Act therefore may be of some help because the essential meanings of the language of the Model Sentencing Act and the Oregon dangerous offender statutes remain the same.
Although these comments may be helpful, we certainly are not dependent upon them in interpreting the meaning of ORS 161.735(6). The plain wording of that statute mandates that the court must find that defendant is suffering from a "severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity." The statute clearly states that whether a defendant comes within ORS 161.725 is to be determined by the court upon consideration of not only the psychiatric report but also the presentence report and the evidence in the case or that presented at a presentence hearing. The psychiatric report must be considered, but no words in the statute require that a psychiatrist make the findings of dangerousness or "severe personality disorder * * *." Behavioral scientists agree that "[n]o such entity exists in the nosology of psychiatry." Kozol, Boucher &amp; Garofalo, The Diagnosis and Treatment of Dangerousness, 18 Crime &amp; Delinq 371, 378-79 (1972). Accordingly, it devolves upon the legislature or the court to create and develop definitions, criteria and methods in applying the statutes.
The first section of ORS 161.725 provides that the court must find that because of the "dangerousness of the defendant" an extended period of incarceration is required. The legislature did not define "dangerousness." As noted by one commentator, Megargee, The Prediction of Dangerous Behavior, 3 Crim Just &amp; Behav 3, 5 (Mar 1976), "`dangerousness' is an unfortunate term, for it implies there is a trait of `dangerousness' which, like intelligence, is a relatively constant characteristic of the person being assessed. However, the degree of danger an individual represents to himself or others varies markedly as a function of a number of variables. It is better to eschew the term `dangerousness' in favor of discussing the problems involved in `predicting dangerous behavior,' to avoid the trap of affixing permanent labels on changeable people."[1] Megargee then suggests that "dangerous behavior" should be used interchangeably with "violence" and should be applied to a relatively narrow range of acts characterized by the application or overt threat of force which is likely to result in injury to people, including but not restricted to such criminal acts as homicide, mayhem, aggravated assault, forcible rape, battery, robbery, arson and extortion. Kozol, Boucher &amp; Garofalo agree in more general terms, defining "dangerousness" as the potential for inflicting serious bodily harm on another.
At the presentence hearing, in order to make the first finding of dangerousness, the judge must find the defendant has engaged in dangerous behavior that involves a crime of violence against a person. Defendant previously had been convicted of sodomy in the first degree committed against a 10-year-old female victim who had been riding her bicycle. He forced that victim down a bank pushed her to the ground and subjected her to forceful anal intercourse with a threat of death, namely that he would "stick a knife in her back." These acts certainly qualify as dangerous behavior. In this case the crime of sodomy in the first degree was committed against an 11-year-old female victim, defendant's niece. Defendant enticed the child to go to a secluded area. When defendant grabbed the victim from behind and she yelled for help, he placed his hand over her nose and mouth and threatened to cause her to pass out. He then forced her to the ground, removed her pants and underpants, and repeatedly subjected her to forceful anal intercourse. The trial judge made a finding *1241 of "dangerousness" in this case, commenting:
The second finding the judge must make is that because of the dangerousness of the defendant, an extended period of confined correction treatment or custody is required for the protection of the public. This finding implies a prediction by the court that the defendant is likely to engage in dangerous behavior and constitutes a future threat of injury or death to other persons. This prediction of future behavior and potential or propensity for inflicting serious bodily harm on another overlaps to some extent the fourth finding the judge must make, that the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.
The third finding is simply that the defendant is being sentenced for a Class A felony or that the defendant is being sentenced for a felony that seriously endangered the life or safety of another and has been previously convicted of a felony not related to the instant crime as a single criminal episode. Here, this defendant was convicted of Sodomy I, a Class A felony.
The statutory language requiring that the court must find that the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity is most troublesome.[2] We have already mentioned that those words mean that there must be a finding that the defendant is suffering from a severe mental or emotional disorder indicating a propensity toward continuing dangerous criminal activity. The statute is a dangerous offender statute, not an habitual offender statute, and it would make no sense for a court to find that someone has engaged in dangerous conduct but has a propensity in the future to continue only non-dangerous criminal activity such as committing forgery. Further, the statute contemplates a severe personality disorder. The statute refers to a mentally abnormal person and not to a dangerous normal person.
According to the Guides for Sentencing, Dangerous Offenders, promulgated by the Council of Judges of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (2d ed 1974), the essence of the dangerous offender classification is not one specific diagnosis, but any significant mental or emotional disorder or disturbance  a lay concept  and that the finding should be based on the judge's evaluation of all the information gathered, not exclusively on the clinical diagnosis.
These national guides, promulgated two years after the passage of the Oregon dangerous offender statutes, are inadequate in assisting a judge to make one of the most serious sentencing decisions. Neither the Model Act nor the guidelines gives any legal or lay definition of a severe personality disorder. Further, the comment to the Model Sentencing Act that the judge, representing society, makes a common sense decision based on as much relevant information as possible is much too vague to use as a basis for incarcerating a person for up to 30 years. Although the behavioral scientists seem to agree that the terms *1242 used in standard psychiatric diagnosis are almost totally irrelevant to the determination of dangerousness, psychotherapists, including the psychiatrist in this case, do recognize that certain personality disorders can be defined and that persons who have such personality disorders and who have committed dangerous acts can be predictably dangerous.[3]
The disorder described in this case was that of an antisocial personality. That personality is described by the American Psychiatric Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3d ed 1980), and had been similarly described in prior editions in existence in 1971 at the time this dangerous offender legislation was enacted. We believe that the legislature in utilizing the statutory language referring to dangerousness and persons with severe personality disorders meant to include persons with antisocial personality disorders who have committed violent acts against other persons. We concur with Kozol, Boucher &amp; Garofalo that a person with a severe and a dangerous antisocial personality can best be described as one
A judge can turn to the American Psychiatric Association manual for assistance in determining whether a person who has engaged in violent behavior possesses the diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder. The DSM III sets forth the following criteria:
The DSM III manual also is helpful in defining a personality disorder. The manual explains:
The manual also describes other personality disorders that may be relevant for application in other cases. The manual presently lists the following personality disorders: *1244 Schizoid, Avoidant, Antisocial, Passive-Aggressive and Borderline Personality Disorders. Id. at 305.
We now turn to the present case to determine if the trial judge made the necessary findings within these definitions to apply the dangerous offender statute. After finding that defendant was dangerous and had committed a Class A felony, the court addressed the issue whether defendant needed to be isolated for the protection of society. He stated:
The court then addressed the key issue whether this defendant was suffering from a severe personality disorder as described in ORS 161.725(1). The court noted that a psychiatrist who examined defendant had concluded that defendant did not suffer from a severe personality disorder with a propensity toward criminal activity. However, as previously mentioned, the court is not bound by the conclusions of any psychotherapist but is required by statute to make his or her own findings on that issue. Expert opinion is admissible if it may be helpful to the trier of fact, see OEC 702, but the trier of fact is not bound by any expert's opinion. The judge stated that although he respected Dr. Holland's opinion, he simply disagreed with it and felt that, as the trial judge, he was free to make his own determination after reviewing the psychiatric evidence, presentence report and other evidence available. The trial judge, in making his own findings, stated:
The judge was justified in making this finding. We note that the prosecutor, the defense attorney and Dr. Holland each used or referred to the manual and agreed that the diagnostic criteria in DSM III for an antisocial personality disorder are "most explicit." The judge observed that Dr. Holland relied on this manual for his diagnosis and that in his report he stated that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) diagnosed defendant as having an antisocial personality.
It does not take a psychiatrist to utilize the criteria for an antisocial personality as set forth in DSM III. It does not take a psychiatrist to add up the number of diagnostic criteria. This defendant before age 15 had a history of four of the criteria. The manual states that there must be "at least three." This defendant had been (1) *1245 expelled from Coquille High School for misbehavior, (2) arrested, referred to juvenile court because of delinquent behavior and committed to McLaren School for Boys, not once but twice, (3) stole an automobile and committed a burglary, and (4) chronically violated rules at his home in that he was taken from the home and failed to adjust in foster care. As to his adult behavior, he (1) failed to accept social norms with respect to lawful behavior in that he was arrested on multiple occasions resulting in at least two felony convictions; (2) demonstrated irritability and aggressiveness, physically assaulting various victims; he was convicted of menacing and assault in the third degree; (3) demonstrated a failure to plan ahead and acted impulsively in that he absconded from supervision; (4) demonstrated recklessness by driving while intoxicated and in another incident attempted to elude a police officer; and (5) engaged in a pattern of continuous antisocial behavior in which he violated the rights of others, particularly the rights of young girls: he forced a 10-year-old to suffer the indignity of anal sodomy at knifepoint and raped a 16-year-old after using a weapon with threats of death. Dr. Holland failed to set forth or comment on these facts and their application to a diagnosis under DSM III. The trial judge was fully justified to reject the psychiatrist's conclusion and to properly sum up defendant as a dangerous offender requiring an "extended period of confinement for the protection of society who had been convicted of Class A felonies and who is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity" as those terms have been interpreted in this opinion.
The principal purpose of the dangerous offender statutes is to focus special attention on the dangerous offender. The drafters of the Model Sentencing Act, the Act upon which ORS 161.725 and 161.735 were based, contemplated that very few defendants would be found to be dangerous offenders. Not more than 100 persons would have to be confined in a single maximum security institution, which would be staffed for genuine treatment. One hundred twenty-nine convicted felons are presently confined in Oregon prisons as dangerous offenders. In adopting the essence of the Model Sentencing Act, the Oregon legislature did not rule out the possibility of rehabilitation of dangerous offenders. Upon petition of the offender that status is subject to review. ORS 144.226 provides for psychiatric review every two years of any person sentenced under ORS 161.725 and 161.735. ORS 144.228 provides that if the condition which made the prisoner dangerous is absent or in remission the prisoner shall be given a release date in accordance with the parole matrix. Otherwise, the prisoner will serve the full sentence less good time credits.
The application of the dangerous offender statutes requires careful and complete findings by a judge. To recap, for a sentencing judge to apply ORS 161.725 and 161.735 to a defendant, the judge must first declare that he has reason to believe that because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confinement is required for the protection of the public and make appropriate findings on the record to justify that belief. The judge must also find the defendant is being sentenced for a Class A felony or a felony that seriously endangered the life or safety of another and has been previously convicted of a felony not related to the instant crime as a single criminal episode.
After making these findings, the judge must order a presentence report and psychiatric examination of the defendant. The judge should not merely make a general referral; rather, the judge should specify whatever clues or questions he or she has. If some element in the crime or some facet of the defendant's history puzzles the judge, he or she should make his query specific. Details of the crime should be made known to the psychiatrist, and whatever denial of the facts is made by the defendant should also be presented. After receiving these reports, the judge then must conduct a presentence hearing unless waived by the defendant. At the hearing *1246 the judge must consider the presentence report, the psychiatric report, and the evidence in the case or evidence presented at the presentence hearing. The court then must make findings whether (1) the defendant is dangerous, (2) because of the dangerousness of the defendant an extended period of confinement is required for the protection of the public, and (3) the defendant is suffering from a severe personality disorder indicating a propensity toward criminal activity.
The dangerous offender statutes were properly applied in this case by the sentencing judge.
The Court of Appeals and the trial court are affirmed.
[1]  Monahan, The Prediction of Violent Behavior, 27 Crime &amp; Delinq 4-5 (1981), agrees, writing: "`Dangerousness' confuses issues regarding what one is predicting with the probability one is assigning to its prediction."
[2]  The literature on predicting dangerousness is voluminous. Particularly helpful to judges are the following: Cohen, Groth &amp; Siegel, The Clinical Prediction of Dangerousness, 24 Crime &amp; Delinq 28 (1978); Kozol, Boucher &amp; Garofalo, The Diagnosis and Treatment of Dangerousness, 18 Crime &amp; Delinq 371 (1972); Megargee, The Prediction of Dangerous Behavior, 3 Crim Just &amp; Behav 3 (1976); Monahan, Evaluating Potentially Violent Persons, Psychology, Psychiatry, &amp; the Law 9 (1980); Monahan, The Clinical Prediction of Violent Behavior, 26 Crime &amp; Delinq  (1980); Morris, On "Dangerousness" in the Judicial Process, 39 Rec A B City NY 102 (1984); Prins, Literature Review  Dangerous Offenders, 13 Brit J Soc Work 443 (1983); Scott, Assessing Dangerousness in Criminals, 131 Brit J Psychiatry 127 (1977); Shah, Dangerousness: A Paradigm for Exploring Some Issues in Law and Psychology, American Psychologist 224 (Mar 1978).
[3]  Presently, many studies are being made to predict risk assessment of offenders, and some of those studies specifically involve prediction of dangerous or violent offenders. See, e.g., Arizona Board of Pardons and Paroles, Parole Risk Assessment  An Overview (Feb 1986); Baird &amp; Lerner, A Survey of the Use of Guidelines and Risk Assessments by State Parole Boards, National Council on Crime and Delinquency (1985); Fischer, Prediction and Incapacitation: Issues and Answers (Jan 1985); Petersilia, Turner, Kahan &amp; Peterson, Granting Felons Probation  Public Risks and Alternatives (Jan 1985). We do not rule out the utilization of these risk assessment tools when they become available for application to the dangerous offender statutes.