Court Opinion

ID: 9679975
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:14:41.732689+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:24.036571
License: Public Domain

MARY R. RUSSELL, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur with the majority that section 632.4981 is constitutional. I respectfully dissent, however, from the majority’s conclusion that the trial court erred in dismissing Coffman’s petition as frivolous. Pursuant to this Court’s standard of review, I would affirm the trial court’s decision.
While the majority properly states and follows the de novo standard of review for statutory interpretation in finding that section 632.498 is constitutional, it fails to consider or apply the appropriate standard of review for weighing the trial court’s dismissal of Coffman’s petition.
The standard of review dictates that the trial court’s dismissal should be reviewed for abuse of discretion; ie., its decision may be reversed only if it is clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so arbitrary and unreasonable that it shocks the sense of justice and indicates a lack of careful consideration. See, e.g., Romero v. Kansas City Station Corp., 98 S.W.3d 129, 137 (Mo.App.2003).
After being denied release by the department of mental health in annual reviews in 2005 and 2006, Coffman filed this petition for release without the director’s approval, as authorized in section 632.504. The trial court is instructed by the statute to dismiss Coffman’s petition without conducting a hearing if it finds the petition is “frivolous.” The majority opinion defines “frivolous” as a test of whether Coffman’s petition had no basis in law or fact or whether it was “clearly insufficient” on its face. The majority finds that Coffman’s petition was not frivolous because it sufficiently alleges a basis to believe he is no longer dangerous, regardless of the status of his mental condition. I disagree and would affirm the dismissal.
As the majority discusses, the trial court’s ultimate role was to determine if Coffman could show that he should no longer be confined as a sexual predator because his mental condition had changed or because he no longer posed a danger to society. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Coffman’s petition failed to allege facts to show that his mental condition had changed or that his mental abnormality no longer existed. The record demonstrated that Coffman’s mental condition had not changed: he had not completed treatment; he had confinement violations that included pornographic materials; he was seen engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior — rubbing his *448hand on the leg of another resident; he had stated, “I don’t want to change;” and he planned to leave Missouri for a state without a sexually violent predator law.
Further, even had the trial court considered Coffman’s dangerousness as required by the majority, Coffman’s petition failed to show that he no longer posed a danger to society. The cardiologist and pulmonary specialists commented on Coffman’s continuing physical condition, but made no assessments of how his physical limitations prevented him from acting on his mental abnormality to prevent future acts of sexual violence. Despite his physical condition, Coffman stated plans to return to his job truck driving when released. Coffman’s expert’s attestation that Coffman was no longer dangerous because he could only harm persons in “his immediate reach” failed to consider that Coffman’s past sexual acts required no chase: he molested a 10-month old and a 2-year old.
The trial court should not be convicted of abusing its discretion for denying Coff-man’s petition as frivolous under section 632.504.

. All statutory references are to RSMo Supp. 2006, unless otherwise indicated.