IN THE MATTER OF THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF J.F. (SVP-214-01, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (RECORD IMPOUNDED) ( 2019 )

RECORD IMPOUNDED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-2075-16T5
IN THE MATTER OF CIVIL
COMMITMENT OF J.F.,
SVP 214-01.
____________________________
Argued October 11, 2018 – Decided May 17, 2019
Before Judges Nugent, Reisner and Mawla.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
Division, Essex County, Docket No. SVP-214-01.
Susan Remis Silver, Assistant Deputy Public Defender,
argued the cause for appellant J.F. (Joseph E. Krakora,
Public Defender, attorney; Susan Remis Silver, of
counsel and on the briefs).
Nicholas Logothetis, Deputy Attorney General, argued
the cause for respondent State of New Jersey (Gurbir S.
Grewal, Attorney General, attorney; Melissa H. Raksa,
Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Nicholas
Logothetis, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Appellant, J.F., is currently committed to the Department of Corrections'
Special Treatment Unit (STU) for sexually violent predators. He appeals from
an order that revoked his conditional discharge from the STU and ordered that
he continue to be committed to that facility. J.F. contends that during the
commitment hearing the judge committed four errors: First, the judge shifted
the burden of proof away from the State and to J.F. Second, the judge relied on
inadmissible evidence when he determined that J.F.'s conditional discharge
should be revoked. Third, contrary to the judge's finding, the use of alcohol did
not make J.F. highly likely to engage in acts of sexual violence. Last, the judge
failed to consider that J.F.'s current mental abnormality or personality disorder
does not "make him a current risk of being highly likely to sexually reoffend."
The record refutes these arguments. Accordingly, we affirm.
J.F., now age eighty-four, has a lengthy adult criminal history that began
when he was eighteen years old. His history of sexual offenses dates to 1995,
when he was found guilty by a jury of four counts of lewdness and four counts
of endangering the welfare of a child.1 Shortly before he completed his seven-
year sentence, the State filed a petition seeking his civil commitment under the
Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA), N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.24 to -27.38. J.F. was
1
The sexual offenses that resulted in J.F.'s civil commitment and the history of
his appeals from continuing commitment orders are detailed in a previous
reported opinion, In re Commitment of JJF, 365 N.J. Super. 486, 490-96 (App.
Div. 2004).
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committed and remained in the STU until he was released — the first time — in
accordance with a July 30, 2010 order that directed he be conditionally
discharged by August 3, 2010.
The order was vacated two years later, in August 2012, following J.F.'s
arrest for standing outside the fence of a "splash park," exposing himself, and
masturbating while in view of a pre-teenage girl. J.F. pled guilty to third-degree
endangering the welfare of a child and a judge sentenced him to serve three years
at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC) at Avenel. When
sentenced in April 2013, J.F. was seventy-seven years old.
Following his release from the ADTC, J.F. returned to the STU, where he
remained until April 2015, when he was conditionally discharged again. The
"Comprehensive Discharge Plan" included the "Clinical Recommendations" that
J.F. "[a]void[] . . . high-risk situations including but not limited to parks,
playgrounds, amusement parks, schools and beaches." The recommendations
also included that J.F. "abstain[] from alcohol use."
Four months after his conditional discharge from the STU, in August
2015, J.F. was involved in another incident that resulted in the revocation of his
conditional discharge. According to police investigation reports, on the
afternoon of August 8, police responded to a call from a department store
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manager that a male was masturbating in plain view of other patrons. Shortly
after arriving at the department store, and after speaking with the store manager,
the police encountered J.F., who "reeked of alcohol" and was holding an open
twenty-five ounce can of beer.
According to the police report, the manager told the police that an adult
customer and two minor female customers had informed her that a man had been
standing between the toy section and men's section, looking at children and
masturbating. The customers identified J.F. to the manager, and the manager
identified J.F. to the police when they arrived. By the time the police arrived,
however, the witnesses had left the store. The manager told the police she asked
the witnesses to stay, but they refused, not wanting to get involved.
The police arrested J.F., issued a summons for consuming alcohol in
public, and released him. The State Parole Board recommended "an order be
signed as soon as administratively possible to have [J. F.] temporar[il]y re[-]
committed to the STU for an evaluation . . . as he is clearly showing high-risk
behavior, and has violated his condition of release by using alcohol."
On August 11, 2015, a judge vacated J.F.'s discharge and temporarily
committed him. On October 15, 2015, J.F. knowingly and voluntarily stipulated
the State's proofs "could prove by clear and convincing evidence that he
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continues to be a sexually violent predator in need of civil commitment in a
secure facility for control, care and treatment." In consequence, a judge entered
an order committing J.F. to the STU and scheduling a review hearing for
September 29, 2016.
On November 3, 2016, J.F. once again knowingly and voluntarily
stipulated that the State's proofs "could prove by clear and convincing evidence
that he continues to be a sexually violent predator in need of civil commitment
in a secure facility for control, care and treatment." A judge entered an order
committing J.F. to the STU and scheduling a review hearing for October 16,
2017.
On December 20, 2016, the judge commenced a review hearing after J.F.
decided he did not wish to wait another year for another hearing. Apparently,
as part of J.F.'s previous stipulation, he reserved the right to have a hearing if he
changed his mind.
The State presented documentary evidence and the testimony of a
psychiatrist and a psychologist, both of whom opined that J.F. suffered from
mental abnormalities, including pedophilia, that predisposed him to commit acts
of sexual violence, and that his risk of reoffending was high. J.F. presented no
witnesses.
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Based on the State's proofs, the judge found by clear and convincing
evidence that J.F.:
has been convicted of a sexual violent offense. . . . [H]e
continues to suffer from a mental abnormality
personality disorder, does not spontaneously remit, can
only [be] mitigated by treatment, affects him
emotionally, cognitively, volitionally, serious
difficulty controlling his sexual violent behavior,
highly likely to sexually reoffend . . . presently by clear
and convincing evidence.
The judge entered an order continuing J.F.'s commitment at the STU and
scheduling a review hearing in a year. This appeal followed.
The SVPA authorizes the Attorney General to initiate court proceedings
for involuntary commitment of sexually violent predators. N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.28.
Sexually violent predators include persons
who ha[ve] been convicted, adjudicated delinquent or
found not guilty by reason of insanity for commission
of a sexually violent offense . . . and suffer[] from a
mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes
[them] likely to engage in acts of sexual violence if not
confined in a secure facility for control, care and
treatment.
[N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.26.]
Thus, to have a person committed under the SVPA, the State must prove by clear
and convincing evidence three statutory criteria: the person has been convicted
of a sexually violent offense; the person suffers from a mental abnormality or
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personality disorder; and, as a result of such mental abnormality or personality
disorder, "it is highly likely that the individual will not control his or her
sexually violent behavior and will reoffend." In re Commitment of R.F., 217
N.J. 152, 173 (2014) (quoting In re Commitment of W.Z., 173 N.J. 109, 130,
(2002)).
To continue the civil commitment of a sexually violent predator who has
been committed to the STU, the State must prove "the individual has serious
difficulty in controlling sexually harmful behavior such that it is highly likely
that he or she will not control his or her sexually violent behavior and will
reoffend." W.Z., 173 N.J. at 132. Similarly, to have a sexually violent predator's
conditional discharge from the STU revoked, "the State must establish by clear
and convincing evidence that the committee is highly likely not to control his or
her sexually violent behavior and will reoffend." In re Civil Commitment of
E.D., 183 N.J. 536, 551 (2005).
Our scope of review is "extremely narrow." R.F., 217 N.J. at 174. That
is so because "judges who hear SVPA cases generally are 'specialists' and 'their
expertise in the subject' is entitled to special deference." Ibid. (quoting In re
Civil Commitment of T.J.N., 390 N.J. Super. 218, 226 (App. Div. 2007)). We
generally will not modify the SVPA trial judge's determination to commit or
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release an individual "unless the record reveals a clear mistake." Id. at 175
(internal citations omitted). "So long as the trial court's findings are supported
by 'sufficient credible evidence present in the record,' those findings should not
be disturbed." Ibid. (quoting State v. Johnson, 42 N.J. 146, 162 (1964)). Here,
credible evidence in the record supports the judge's findings, and the record
dispels any notion that the judge made a clear mistake.
Except to say J.F.'s first argument — that the judge shifted the burden of
proof to him and required that he either provide an expert or remain committed
to the STU — is based on J.F.'s taking the judge's comments out of context and
misconstruing them, the argument is so lacking in merit that it warrants no
further discussion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E). We thus turn to J.F.'s second argument,
namely, the judge's decision was based on inadmissible hearsay.
J.F. contends the State's experts accepted as true, as did the judge, the
hearsay reports that J.F. exposed himself and masturbated while in the
department store drinking beer. The record belies the assertion the judge
considered the evidence for its truth. When the psychiatrist began to recount
how J.F. was reportedly exposing himself and masturbating in the department
store, J.F.'s counsel objected to the testimony as hearsay. The Senior Deputy
Attorney General responded that he was not eliciting the content of police
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investigative reports for the truth of the statements contained in those reports,
but to establish what the psychiatrist relied on in formulating his opinion. The
judge expressly permitted the testimony for that "limited purpose." 2
The facts or data upon which an expert bases an opinion need not be
admissible in evidence "[i]f of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the
particular field in forming opinions or inferences upon the subject ." N.J.R.E.
703. In In re Commitment of J.M.B., 197 N.J. 563, 597-98 n.9 (2009), the Court
noted with approval the "use of police reports, presentence reports and prior
psychiatric evaluations" to, among other things, "evaluate the opinions of the
testifying experts who considered these documents in reaching their diagnoses."
The Court stated: "In respect of the commitment court's findings about J.M.B.'s
current mental condition and whether he had demonstrated inability to
2
We note the hearsay was included in the psychiatrist's report. The report had
been admitted into evidence at the hearing a month earlier when defendant
stipulated to the adequacy of the State's proofs. When the hearing began in
December, the Senior Deputy Attorney General said to the judge, "we already
had the exhibits moved in at the earlier hearing . . . just a month ago, so I would
ask Your Honor to use those exhibits." During the hearing, the judge expressly
admitted into evidence some exhibits. The record is unclear whether the parties
assumed that all the exhibits admitted at the hearing in November were admitted
at the hearing that is the subject of this appeal. The better practice for the judge
and the attorneys would have been to make a clear and explicit record as to what
documentary evidence was admitted into evidence, even though they may have
been participants in multiple hearings involving J.F.
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adequately control his sexually harmful conduct, we likewise affirm the trial
court's reliance on the experts' opinions, which were based on a broad array of
evidence about J.M.B." Id. at 598. Accord, In re Civil Commitment of W.X.C.,
407 N.J. Super. 619, 641 (App. Div. 2009) (explaining that the trial court
properly considered, as background in evaluating the opinions of experts, the
experts' reliance "on reports concerning W.X.C.'s mental health, his criminal
history, police reports, and clinical tests"), aff'd on other grounds, 204 N.J. 179(2010).
It is a "well-established principle that '[e]videntiary decisions are
reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard because, from its genesis, the
decision to admit or exclude evidence is one firmly entrusted to the trial court's
discretion.'" Rodriguez v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 237 N.J. 36, 57 (2019)
(quoting Estate of Hanges v. Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., 202 N.J. 369, 383-
84 (2010)). We find no abuse of discretion in the hearing judge's decision to
admit the hearsay evidence for the limited purpose the judge specified.
In the final two points defendant raises on appeal, he argues the record
does not show that J.F.'s use of alcohol made him highly likely to engage in acts
of sexual violence, and the judge failed to consider that J.F.'s current mental
abnormality or personality disorder does not make him a current risk of being
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highly likely to sexually reoffend. The State's expert testimony, which the
hearing judge found credible, refutes these assertions.
The psychiatrist diagnosed J.F. with pedophilia and a personality disorder,
not otherwise specified, with antisocial features. His diagnosis of pedophilia
was based on J.F.'s "history of offenses towards children over a long period of
time, multiple years in which he's had various charges, and [his admissions] to
arousal to children, and to masturbation [to] thoughts of children for many
years." The doctor explained not only would that not go away, but even at
"[eighty] years old [you can] have an allegation of what appears to be . . .
sexually offensive type behaviors."
The psychiatrist diagnosed J.F. with the personality disorder, not
otherwise specified, with antisocial traits, because J.F. meets all the criteria for
antisocial personality disorder except for evidence of the disorder as a juvenile.
Because there are no records and therefore no history of J.F.'s conduct in his
teenage years, one element of antisocial personality disorders is missing; thus
the diagnosis of personality disorder, not otherwise specified, with antisocial
behavior.
The psychiatrist expressly testified that these disorders affect J.F. in a way
that he has serious difficulty in controlling his sexually offending behavior in
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the community without additional treatment. He opined the risk of J.F. not
controlling his sexually violent behavior and reoffending was "[h]igh risk.
Highly likely. High risk."
The psychiatrist also diagnosed J.F. with an alcohol use disorder. He
noted J.F.'s alcohol use had been associated with the most recent two incidents
in which J.F. had been returned to the STU. Asked how the alcohol related to
the issue of sexual reoffending, the psychiatrist replied:
It disinhibits an individual. So [J.F.], I don't
think he would personally take any issue with the fact
that he's been diagnosed with pedophilic disorder, and
that he's had arousal towards children in the past. He's
masturbated to thoughts of children in the past. He has
it inside of him. And even though he's learned some
treatment concepts drinking certainly could make one
more likely to act out on their impulses. We know that
from the literature, clearly that substance use and
intoxication is associated with a higher risk of sexual
reoffending for those who have a history of sexual
offending.
The State's expert in psychology gave similar testimony. She diagnosed
J.F. with pedophilic disorder, exhibitionist disorder, and other personality
disorder. She testified these disorders affect J.F. emotionally, cognitively, and
volitionally so as to predispose him to commit acts of sexual violence. She
opined that J.F.'s "alcohol use disorder disinhibits his functioning and relates to
his risk to reoffend also." The psychologist characterized J.F.'s risk of sexually
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reoffending in the foreseeable future, if not confined in a secure facility, as high.
Explaining her opinions, the psychologist said:
So it's my opinion that he's significantly
antisocial, struggling with a deviant arousal that's not
being mitigated by his age. And now this is coupled
with an alcohol abuse disorder, which we were unaware
of. For the many years that I was evaluating him and
he was at the STU, . . . he denied any historical abuse
or difficulty with substances. It seems to have become
present or we've been made aware of it since he's been
discharged. So that is another factor that I feel
aggravates his risk.
Dynamically, he struggles with poor coping,
emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, negative
emotionality, and all of these factors should be
addressed in future treatment.
The hearing judge's findings are supported by sufficient credible evidence
present in the record. The record does not reveal that the judge made a clear
mistake. Accordingly, we will not disturb the judge's decision. R.F., 217 N.J.
at 175.
Affirmed.
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