Court Opinion

ID: 9530837
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:04:05.464663+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:15.679250
License: Public Domain

PAUL H. ANDERSON, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur with the result the majority reaches today. But I write separately to address my concerns about the majority’s description of a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness as being a verdict that presumes the accused was guilty of the crime charged but for a finding of mental illness or defect.
We have recently discussed the nature of the mental illness defense in State v. Schreiber, 558 N.W.2d 474 (Minn.1997). In Schreiber, we stated that preventing a defendant from presenting subjective psychological evidence to rebut the state’s evi*262dence on intent does not violate the defendant’s due process rights under the United States or Minnesota Constitutions. Id. at 478. We stated in Schreiber that once a person has been determined to be “legally insane” or to lack the mental capacity to form a criminal intent, “the defendant is completely excused from criminal liability by reason of mental illness.” Id. at 480 (emphasis in original).
Our reasoning in Schreiber was based in part on our earlier decision in State v. Bouwman, 328 N.W.2d 703, 706 (Minn.1982), where we distinguished the defense of mental capacity from other subjective intent defenses, such as age or intoxication. In Bouwman, we reiterated the legal presumption that all persons are responsible for their acts and “that they have the capacity to intend what they do.” Id. at 705 (discussing Minn.Stat. § 611.025 (1980)). As such, the prosecution in a criminal case need only produce factual evidence to show that defendant committed the act for which he has been charged. See id. Intent may then be inferred from this objective manifestation of the defendant’s intent. See id. Evidence of a subjective and psychological nature that may tend to show that the defendant could not form this intent is irrelevant at this point as it does nothing to refute the physical evidence the state has presented. See id. However, once the defense of mental illness or defect is asserted, “[t]he question becomes whether the defendant, even though he has manifested the specific intent to do the thing that he did, was laboring under such a defect of reason that he lacked the capacity to form the intent that was otherwise manifested.” Id. (emphasis added).
Evidence of other subjective defenses to intent, such as intoxication, are permitted in cases, like first-degree murder, where specific intent is an element of the crime to be presented by the defendant in his case in chief. See id. at 706. However, in order to avoid confusion on the distinction between intent as an element of the crime and lack of mental capacity, we have ordered that the trial shall be separated or bifurcated in cases where the defendant intends to offer an insanity defense in addition to challenging other elements of the crime. See State v. Hoffman, 328 N.W.2d 709, 716-17 (Minn.1982).
In the first phase of the bifurcated trial, the state presents its case and then the defense presents its case to refute the state’s evidence, absent any psychological evidence concerning mental capacity. See id. at 716. The defense then rests provisionally. See id. This first phase is frequently referred to by the misnomer “guilt phase.” See, e.g., Schreiber, 558 N.W.2d at 477. However, guilt has not been established. In the second phase, the burden now shifts to the defendant who must overcome by a fair preponderance of the evidence the presumption that he possesses the mental capacity to form the requisite criminal intent. See Hoffman, 328 N.W.2d at 717. Here, psychological evidence is relevant and permitted. See id.
It is true that at the close of the first phase of the bifurcated trial the jury must find that the state has carried its burden and proven the elements of the crime, including intent. See Minn. R.Crim. P. 20.02, subd. 4(6). However, the defendant, who has only provisionally rested, still has a defense to present — that he lacked the mental capacity to form the intent otherwise manifested by his acts.
It is inappropriate and constitutionally problematic to describe the result of this first phase of the bifurcated trial as a finding of guilt, therefore concluding that the defendant was guilty but for a finding of mental illness or defect. Intent remains an essential element of most crimes and specific intent an element of first-degree murder. The state must still prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. A finding that the defendant lacked the mental capacity to form the requisite intent will generally defeat any objective showing of intent. Despite the pejorative connotations society may place *263on a finding of not guilty by reason of mental illness, it is an acquittal of the crime as charged that “completely excuses [the defendant] from criminal liability” (emphasis in original). Schreiber, 558 N.W.2d at 480; see also Black’s Law Dictionary 24 (7th ed.1999) (defining “acquittal” as “legal certification * * * that an accused person is not guilty of the charged offense”); see generally Minn.Stat. § 253B.01 -.23 (1998) (Minnesota Commitment and Treatment Act) (referring to verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness as “an acquittal of a criminal charge under section 611.026”).
In this case, Ambaye was found not guilty by reason of insanity before we required bifurcated trials. However, that difference has made the “but for” reasoning of the majority even more problematic. The jury considered all of these issues together and we can make no clear statement about what the jury intended other than their stated verdict — not guilty by reason of insanity.
Despite the fact that a finding of not guilty by reason of mental illness completely excuses a defendant from criminal liability, I agree with the majority that it is not a favorable determination under Minn. Stat. § 609A.02, subd. 3 (1998). I agree that a favorable determination under this statute is a technical term, limited to those instances when a criminal charge has been resolved by a finding of not guilty or by voluntary dismissal. Additionally, while a finding of not guilty by reason of mental illness completely excuses the defendant’s criminal liability, it does not mean that society does not continue to require protection from that person’s dangerous propensities. After a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, the defendant is held in custody by the court pending a mental evaluation and the court continues to exercise supervision and control over the civil commitment process. See generally Minn. Stat. § 253B.07, subd. 2a (1998). Consequently, while I disagree with the majority’s description of the nature of the verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness, I agree that it is not a favorable determination under Minn.Stat. § 609A.02, subd. 3.