Court Opinion

ID: 9853932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:57:43.203818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:16.812203
License: Public Domain

PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK, J.
(dissenting).
¶ 103. I write separately, in part, because I conclude that the trial court properly admitted and considered the report of Dr. Michael S. Kotkin, even though Kotkin was not present to testify at Richard A. Brown's ch. 980 hearing. I also write separately because I dissent from the majority opinion's reversal of the court of appeals decision that affirmed the finding of the circuit court that the State proved by clear and convincing evidence that Brown is still a sexually violent person and that it is still substantially probable that he will engage in acts of sexual violence if he is not continued in institutional care.
I. BACKGROUND1
¶ 104. Brown, who was born on March 23, 1972, has a long history of sexual assaults that have been perpetrated by force on young victims. He was first convicted in 1988 of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, when he was 16 years old. Apparently, prior to that *140conviction, in 1986 and 1987 when he was 14 and 15 years old, he repeatedly sexually assaulted his three stepsisters, and though his mother knew of the assaults, she did not appropriately intervene. In 1990 at 18 years of age, he was convicted of sexually assaulting his 13-year-old stepsister, who is mentally retarded.
¶ 105. Court intervention that provided treatment for Brown's aggressive sexual behavior followed the 1990 assault on his stepsister. However, in 1993 when he was 21 years of age, he raped a 13-year-old runaway; again, this sexual assault was perpetrated with the use of force. He was sentenced to prison subsequent to that conviction. In 1998, following his mandatory release date from prison, he was tried and committed to the Wisconsin Resource Center as a sexually violent person. He was later transferred to Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center (Sand Ridge). This case arises out of one of Brown's petitions for supervised release, which he filed under Wis. Stat. § 980.08(4) (2001-02).2
¶ 106. Prior to the hearing on Brown's petition, his propensity to commit acts of sexual violence upon release was assessed. Two of those assessments were used as evidence in response to Brown's petition for supervised release: that of Dr. Michael S. Kotkin and that of Dr. David E. Warner. Both psychologists completed written reports after personal interviews with Brown. Kotkin's report is dated August 2, 2002, and Warner's is dated October 2, 2002, with an update as of December 27, 2002. Kotkin's report was ordered by the court to assist in deciding on a petition for supervised release that Brown filed in April of 2002. It was *141prepared under the statutory directive of Wis. Stat. § 980.08(3). Brown withdrew that petition for supervised release after receiving Kotkin's report and then promptly filed the petition now under review. During the course of the proceedings on Brown's second petition, the circuit court ruled that Kotkin's report could be filed, and the court considered it as relevant evidence, over Brown's hearsay objection. Warner's report and testimony came in without objection.
¶ 107. The reports and testimony were in agreement in demonstrating that Brown has had a consistent diagnosis of pedophilia that involves, " 'recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child'... that are present for at least six months." Brown also has had a consistent diagnosis of personality disorder. This mental illness has antisocial features that were described as " 'an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture'" of " 'long duration'. . . and [that are] pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations." These diagnoses have been in place and reaffirmed at every evaluation, beginning with the 1998 evaluation done prior to Brown's trial upon the State's petition to commit him as a sexually violent person.
¶ 108. As part of Warner's October 2002 assessment, he administered three actuarial risk assessment tests.3 Wagner found that Brown rated in the "high-risk category for sexual re-offending" on the MnSOST-R *142diagnostic test. Warner's report explained that at least 70% of those who scored in the range that Brown scored on the MnSOST-R would reoffend within six years of release from a secured setting. The other two tests Warner conducted showed that Brown was in a lower range for propensity to reoffend than did the MnSOST-R. However, Warner's report also stated that "[r]ecent research has demonstrated that actuarial instruments are sensitive to different types of sexual offending, with the MnSOST-R identifying offenders that have committed forceful sexual assaults on related or unrelated victims across a range of ages." (Emphasis added.) Warner's report also states that "[r]esearch has demonstrated that persons who develop deviant sexual arousal patterns in adolescence or early adulthood are likely to retain these patterns throughout most of their lives. Mr. Brown's diagnosis of pedophilia, by definition, indicates that he is likely to have an ongoing deviant sexual interest in prepubescent and pubescent girls." However, notwithstanding the negative comments I have reported above, Warner also opined that "it would be possible to manage Mr. Brown's risk for sex offense recidivism safely in the community with the supervision and treatment resources currently available in Milwaukee County." (Emphasis added.)
¶ 109. Kotkin reviewed much the same information as Warner, but he came to a very different conclusion. Although he was encouraged by Brown's beginning to get involved in treatment that he had earlier shunned, Kotkin noted that as late as March 7, 2002 "Richard's lack of participation in group process continues to be identified as an ongoing problem." He also weighed Brown's mental history and ongoing problems with his family as factors that caused him to conclude that Brown was not ready for supervised release.
*143¶ 110. The circuit court heard all of the testimony, reviewed the reports available to it, considered the nature of Brown's pedophilia, and the length of time over which Brown had exhibited sexually deviant behavior. The court also reviewed Brown's recent treatment with the prescription drug Zoloft, which apparently had caused him to shift some of his thinking from sexually oriented matters to other concerns, and the fact that Brown could choose to discontinue Zoloft at any time. The court noted that Brown had not yet completed all the treatment that was available to him at Sand Ridge. The court also noted that Warner had conditioned his opinion that supervised release was appropriate on extensive, detailed conditions. The court then found that the State had proven by clear and convincing evidence that Brown was still a sexually violent person and that it was still substantially probable that he would engage in acts of sexual violence if he did not remain in institutional care.
II. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE
A. Standard of review
¶ 111. Whether an item of evidence that has been objected to as hearsay was properly admitted is a question of law that we review without deference to the circuit court. State v. Joyner, 2002 WI App 250, ¶ 16, 258 Wis. 2d 249, 653 N.W.2d 290.
¶ 112. We review the sufficiency of the evidence for the circuit court's finding that Brown was still a sexually violent person and that it was still substantially probable that he would engage in acts of sexual violence under the same standard we use to review the sufficiency of evidence for a criminal conviction. State v. Curiel, 227 Wis. 2d 389, 417, 597 N.W.2d 697 (1999). As *144we have explained, we are not required to be convinced that the proof was sufficient, only that a reasonable trier of fact could find the proof sufficient. Id. at 418-19.
B. Review of trial court decision
1. Admission of Kotkin report
¶ 113. Brown objected to the admission of the Kotkin report as hearsay. The circuit court overruled his objection because of the statutory scheme set out by the legislature for ch. 980 proceedings. The court of appeals also analyzed the report in terms of legislative directives that are applicable to petitions for supervised release conducted under Wis. Stat. § 980.08. In my view, that is the correct analysis and therefore, the report was properly admitted.
¶ 114. All agree that as a general rule, hearsay evidence is not admitted over an objection, unless there is an exception that permits its admission. Exceptions to the inadmissibility of hearsay may be established by statute. See R.S. v. Milwaukee County, 162 Wis. 2d 197, 204-07, 470 N.W.2d 260 (1991). The usual place to look for such exceptions is Wis. Stat. ch. 908, which defines and explains the basic evidentiary rules relating to the admission of hearsay. However, that chapter is not the only place where statutory exceptions to the usual hearsay rules are found. There are many other statutes that provide that the rules of evidence do not apply, thereby affording the opportunity to have hearsay evidence admitted.4 Accordingly, it is reasonable to *145examine Wis. Stat. § 980.08 to see if it provides an exception to the usual rules regarding the admission of hearsay, as well.
¶ 115. Kotkin prepared the report at issue here at the directive of the court. By filing a petition for supervised release, Brown set in motion the statutory directives that resulted in Kotkin's report and its filing with the court. Stated otherwise, once a petition for supervised release is filed, a circuit court is required to "appoint one or more examiners having the specialized knowledge" to conduct an examination of the petitioner to assess the petitioner's propensity to reoffend. Wis. Stat. § 980.08(3). When the examination is completed, the examiner is required to "furnish a written report of the examination to the court." Id. When the circuit court rules on the petition, it is directed by statute to consider all evidence that makes up the petitioner's mental history. Section 980.08(4). The report prepared under § 980.08(3) is referred to as having been "filed with the court" in § 980.08(4). Once the report is filed, it is a part of a petitioner's mental history that the court is to consider. See id.
¶ 116. In my view, the statutory scheme set out in regard to conducting an examination, preparing such a report and filing it with the court, when combined with the court's obligation to consider a petitioner's mental history, causes Kotkin's report to be an exception to the general rules regarding the admissibility of hearsay. To then conclude that the court cannot use the very report it is required to obtain and the examiner is required to *146furnish to the court, makes no sense. While some may say that the law and common sense are not necessarily synonyms, in my view, they should not be strangers. Accordingly, I conclude the Kotkin report was properly admitted, pursuant to the statutory exception provided for in Wis. Stat. § 980.08(3) and (4).
2. Evidence submitted
¶ 117. A petition for supervised release is reviewed according to whether the proof was sufficient under the terms established by the legislature in Wis. Stat. § 980.08(4).5 It provides:
(4) The court, without a jury, shall hear the petition . .. [and] shall grant the petition unless the state proves by clear and convincing evidence that the person is still a sexually violent person and that it is still substantially probable that the person will engage in acts of sexual violence if the person is not continued in institutional care. In making a decision under this subsection, the court may consider, without limitation because of enumeration, the nature and circumstances of the behavior that was the basis of the allegation in the petition under s. 980.02(2)(a), the person's mental history and present mental condition, where the person will live, how the person will support himself or herself and what arrangements are available to ensure that the person has access to and will participate in necessary treatment, including pharmacological treatment using an antiandrogen or the chemical equivalent of an antiandrogen if the person is a serious child sex of*147fender. A decision under this subsection on a petition filed by a person who is a serious child sex offender may not be made based on the fact that the person is a proper subject for pharmacological treatment using an antian-drogen or the chemical equivalent of an antiandrogen or on the fact that the person is willing to participate in pharmacological treatment using an antiandrogen or the chemical equivalent of an antiandrogen.
¶ 118. On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, all evidence that was before the circuit court for its decision is reviewed in the light most favorable to the State. See State v. Poellinger, 153 Wis. 2d 493, 501, 451 N.W.2d 752 (1990). In Curiel, we specifically rejected a de novo standard of review and stated that a determination of whether it was "substantially probable" that the proposed committee would reoffend is a question of fact for the trier of fact to determine. Curiel, 227 Wis. 2d at 418 n.9. We also explained that when testing the sufficiency of the evidence, we must affirm the decision of the circuit court unless no finder of fact, acting reasonably, could find that the defendant was substantially probable to commit future acts of sexual violence. Id. at 418-19.
¶ 119. It is not the volume of testimony in one direction or another that determines whether the evidence was sufficient. See id. at 419-20. Accordingly, when examining the sufficiency of the evidence, we do not reweigh the probative value of various pieces of evidence; rather, it is only when the evidence supporting the trier of fact's decision is " 'inherently or patently incredible'" that we will substitute our judgment for that of the trier of fact. Id. at 420 (quoting Gauthier v. State, 28 Wis. 2d 412, 416, 137 N.W.2d 101 (1965)). Additionally, we have explained that "inherently or *148patently incredible evidence is that type of evidence which conflicts with nature or fully established or conceded facts." Curiel, 227 Wis. 2d at 418-19 (citing Day v. State, 92 Wis. 2d 392, 400, 284 N.W.2d 666 (1979)).
¶ 120. The majority opinion agrees that Curiel sets the standard, yet it ignores all the directives of Curiel and does a de novo review wherein it reweighs the evidence and comes up with its own finding of fact. Majority op., ¶ 93. For example, nowhere in the record is it stated, or even implied, that Brown's diagnosis of pedophilia has been changed or that his long history of sexual violence has no reliability in predicting his propensity to commit acts of sexual violence in the future. Instead, the majority says that it "is troublesome and is accorded weight." Majority op., ¶ 81. The majority opinion ignores Brown's score on the MnSOST-R, the diagnostic test that most accurately predicts future acts of sexual violence by those persons who have used violence in their sexual assaults, as Brown has. Brown's test result showed that there is a 70% probability that Brown would reoffend upon release. Instead, the majority opinion ignores these test results and relies on Brown's scores on two tests that are less reliable for violent sex offenders like Brown. Majority op., ¶ 84. The majority opinion does not concern itself with the testimony of Kotkin, who advised against releasing Brown. Majority op., ¶ 59. It also ignores most of Warner's report, except that portion where he says it is "possible" that Brown could be maintained in supervised release. (Emphasis added.)
¶ 121. And finally, the majority opinion does not conclude that the circuit court relied on inherently or patently incredible evidence. Yet, that is the test we have established for overturning the finding of a circuit court in a ch. 980 proceeding. Curiel, 227 Wis. 2d at *149418-20. As this court stated in State v. Kienitz, 227 Wis. 2d 423, 434-35, 597 N.W.2d 712 (1999),
"If any possibility exists that the trier of fact could have drawn the appropriate inferences from the evidence adduced at trial to find [that the defendant is a sexually violent person], an appellate court may not overturn a verdict even if it believes the trier of fact should not have found [the defendant to be a sexually violent person] based on the evidence before it."
(Quoting Poellinger, 153 Wis. 2d at 507.) This record is chock full of evidence that supports the circuit court's decision. See supra ¶¶ 107-10. In addition, it was Warner's view that Brown's "medium-low and medium-high risk scores on the RRASOR and Static-99 do not negate his high risk MnSOST score." Brown is a sexually violent person, and the class of offenders to which he belongs has a 70% probability of reoffending upon release from a secured treatment facility.
¶ 122. The basis for the majority opinion is not found in the law. Rather, the majority opinion simply reflects its view that it is time for Brown to get out. That is not what the legislature decided when it enacted ch. 980 and set specific standards for the courts to apply. It also is not what we decided in Curiel and Kienitz regarding an appellate court's review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding of the circuit court in a ch. 980 proceeding.
¶ 123. Therefore, because I would affirm the court of appeals and the circuit court, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion.
¶ 124. I am authorized to state that Justices JON E WILCOX and N. PATRICK CROOKS join this dissent.

 The facts below are taken from the record and were available to the circuit court for its consideration in deciding whether the State had met its burden by clear and convincing evidence.

 All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2001-02 version unless otherwise noted.

 An explanation of these testing devices can be found in: Eric S. Janus & Robert A. Prentky, Forensic Use of Actuarial Risk Assessment with Sex Offenders: Accuracy, Admissibility and Accountability, 40 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1443 (2003).

 For example, the rules of evidence do not apply in small claims actions, Wis. Stat. § 799.209(2) (2003-04), in contested case hearings under ch. 227, Wis. Stat. § 227.45(1) (2003-04), or *145in proceedings before a condemnation commission, Wis. Stat. § 32.08(6)(a) (2003-04), and in a hearing to grant, reduce, increase or revoke a condition of supervised release, information offered need not conform to the rules of evidence. Wis. Stat. § 969.08(8) (2003-04).

 Wisconsin Stat. § 980.08(4) was revised in the 2003-04 statutes so that the State is required to prove only that "it is still likely that the person will engage in acts of sexual violence if the person is not continued in institutional care," rather than it being substantially probable that the person will so act unless his or her institutionalization is continued. 2003 Wis. Act 187, § 4.