State v. Knox , 311 Minn. 314 ( 1976 )

Yetka, Justice

(dissenting).

I respectfully dissent. At oral argument the county attorney stated that although the escape statute involved in this case was not intended to apply to a patient who is under direct civil commitment by a court to a mental institution, it was intended to apply to one who has been previously sentenced to a prison, and then transferred from that prison by commitment order to a mental institution.

If the purpose of the statute is to discourage attempted escape from a mental institution on the theory that the public is in danger from an escapee, why should the statute not apply equally to either patient, that is, one committed from a prison or one committed directly under a civil commitment order? Moreover, if the one under a civil commitment order who attempts to escape is not guilty of a crime on the theory that he is a patient in a mental institution and therefore should be deemed to not have the capacity to commit the offense, how can the patient there under commitment from a prison be any more responsible for his actions?

It appears to me that the statute should be applied equally to either patient, or to neither.

There was a rather strong statement made at oral argument to the effect that the Minnesota Security Hospital authorities make every effort to discourage difficult patients being transferred to it from our prison system. If this is true, that position is regrettable because there are certainly more adequate facilities for treating mental patients at St. Peter than at Stillwater or St. Cloud. We must not lose sight of the fact that while one is a patient in a mental institution there is always a chance for a cure. The proof in this case is the fact that Knox was able to function on medical parole while at St. Peter. If he never got beyond that stage, it would appear preferable to sending him back to Stillwater where the inevitable remission would take place and he would once again become a danger to fellow inmates and to prison authorities. Moreover, what protection is there to the public when his sentence expires and he is eventually released?