Court Opinion

ID: 9524443
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:52:43.566155+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:10:23.149186
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE KNECHT, dissenting: The State failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the mentally ill respondent was unable to provide for her basic physical needs so as to guard herself from serious harm. There is likely more evidence that could have been presented, but the State took the oft-used shortcut of having only the psychiatrist testify. A history of mental illness, an odd haircut, and a degree of paranoia may be enough to suggest respondent would benefit from treatment, but it does not prove by a clear-and-convincing standard that she needs to be involuntarily committed. Some staff at St. John’s believed she would be discharged to her home with follow-up outpatient treatment. Even the psychiatrist believed she would stay at St. John’s for no more than one week. Yet just days after the hearing, respondent was ordered transferred to McFarland Mental Health Center by the trial court even though the order of October 27, 2006, found St. John’s was the least-restrictive alternative. The transfer is curious, but that issue is not before us. This court has commented with some frequency on procedural deficiencies in mental-health cases. Those deficiencies and mistakes sometimes do not require reversal. However, they suggest a lack of attention to process. This case, where I contend the evidence is lacking, suggests a failure to understand the quality and quantity of evidence required to meet the high burden of proof in such cases.