Court Opinion

ID: 9797005
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:10:32.086574+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:51:59.409606
License: Public Domain

Judge RUSSEL
dissenting.
The majority concludes that Steven Mayo must register as a sex offender because his civil commitment is the functional equivalent of a conviction. I respectfully disagree.
I recognize that the Ilinois Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (SDPA) contains many procedural safeguards, and I accept that the State of Ilinois satisfied the SDPA's requirements in establishing that Mayo committed or attempted an act of sexual assault or molestation. But I do not believe that this process yielded the functional equivalent of a criminal conviction. The SDPA's statutory features do not erase the fundamental constitutional differences between criminal and civil proceedings. See Allen v. Illinois, 478 U.S. 364, 106 S.Ct. 2988, 92 L.Ed.2d 296 (1986) (proceedings under the SDPA are not "criminal" within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment's privilege against compelled self-incrimination).
Even if Mayo's civil commitment were functionally equivalent to a conviction, it does not satisfy the governing definition. Section 16-22-102(8), C.R.S.2007, defines "eonvietion" by setting forth a list of qualifying events: "[Hlaving received a verdict of guilty by a judge or jury, having pleaded guilty or nolo contendere, having received a disposition as a juvenile, having been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, or having received a deferred judgment and sentence or a deferred adjudication." The list plainly does not include "civil commitment," even though the legislature is aware of civil commitment schemes. Seq, eg., § 12-483-303(2)(g), C.R.S. 2007 ("forensic psychology" includes application of science of psychology to "civil commit*1216ment proceedings"). And the statute does not suggest that other events may constitute "conviction" if they are functionally equivalent to the enumerated items. Cf § 7-90-102(43), C.R.S.2007 ("owner" includes "a person having an interest in any other entity that is functionally equivalent to an owner's interest").
Because the legislature omitted "civil commitment" from the list of items that constitute conviction, I conclude that Mayo is not required to register as a sex offender under the Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act. See Farmers Ins. Exch. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 170 P.3d 847, 849 (Colo.App.2007) (employing the doctrine of expressio unius est exclusio alterius).