Court Opinion

ID: 9848397
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:18:39.633876+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:16.600876
License: Public Domain

Deen, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
The majority opinion holds that “a committing court has the authority to allow an insanity acquittee to pursue treatment, educational or other goals outside of the confines of the treating facility.” I find no statutory authorization for such, view as mistaken any assumption of such authority under a theory of inherent power, and consider any kind of partial release of an insanity acquittee to be unwise; accordingly, I must dissent.
The commitment and release provisions of OCGA § 17-7-131 are fairly explicit. An insanity acquittee who is committed to the Department of Human Resources under OCGA § 17-7-131 (e) may be dis*841charged from that commitment by the committing court only where the defendant proves that he no longer meets the criteria for civil commitment. (A person meets the criteria for civil commitment if he is mentally ill and presents a substantial risk of imminent harm to himself or others, or if he is mentally ill and so unable to care for his own health and safety as to be life-endangering. OCGA § 37-3-1 (2)). If such a defendant proves that he no longer meets the criteria, he gets released; if he fails to meet that burden of proof, he remains committed.
Decided February 16, 1988.
Robert G. Rubin, Susan C. Jamieson, Katherine E. Bissell, for appellant.
Lewis R. Slaton, District Attorney, Joseph J. Drolet, A. Thomas Jones, Benjamin H. Oehlert III, Assistant District Attorneys, for ap*842pellee.
*841The provisions of OCGA § 17-7-131 simply do not envision a partial release, the purpose or goal of which presumably would be to increase the defendant’s mental health to the point where he no longer meets the criteria and can be released. In assuming the role of super-psychiatrist or judicial legislator, the majority opinion overlooks the practical pitfalls of such a possibility. All the insanity acquittees share two characteristics: they are mentally ill and dangerous. I have grave concerns over “partially releasing” into the community such people, who by law are still mentally ill and dangerous. Sooner or later, one of those “partially released” defendants will kill or rape or maim again; and, sooner or later, the State will be sued over such a “partial release.” Compare Roberts v. Grigsby, 177 Ga. App. 377 (339 SE2d 633) (1985). The legislature, in its concern for the welfare of society as a whole, wisely provided for no gray area in the matter of release of insanity acquittees. The majority opinion unwisely creates one judicially.
The majority opinion in part extracts authorization for partial release from the term, “least restrictive environment,” which permeates Chapters 3 and 4 of Title 37. However, OCGA § 37-3-1 (10) defines that term as “that which is the least restrictive available alternative, environment, or care and treatment, as appropriate, within the limits of state funds specifically appropriated therefor.” (Emphasis supplied.) Perhaps it would be appropriate to allow an insanity acquittee to participate in educational or less-supervised activities within the facility in which he is committed (if funded), but under no circumstance would I consider it appropriate to allow a partial release into the community of a person who under the law is mentally ill and a substantial risk of harm to himself or others.