No. 04-1203.Court of Appeals of Iowa.
March 16, 2005.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Shelby County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.
R.I. appeals a district court order involuntarily committing him to outpatient treatment. REVERSED.
Chad Primmer, Council Bluffs, for appellant.
Marcus Gross, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Zimmer and Hecht, JJ.
ZIMMER, J.
Respondent R.I. appeals a district court order committing him to outpatient treatment. He contends insufficient evidence was presented at his civil commitment hearing to show he was seriously mentally impaired. We reverse.
I. Background Facts Proceedings
On June 7, 2004, R.I.[1] was arrested and taken into custody by Shelby County sheriff deputies on the charge that he had assaulted his wife. While in jail, R.I. refused to take certain medications and eat certain food offered to him. Consequently, the chief deputy sheriff, Mark Hervey, took R.I. to Myrtue Memorial Hospital on June 9, 2004. After arriving at the hospital, chief deputy Hervey and a nurse filed an application alleging R.I. was seriously mentally impaired.
On June 14, 2004, an involuntary commitment hearing was held before a Shelby County magistrate. At that hearing, the State offered no testimony in support of the application. Instead, it relied on written reports by Dr. John Fernandez and Dr. Sherrill Fox to prove that R.I. had a serious mental impairment. Following the hearing, the magistrate found that R.I. was seriously mentally impaired. His conclusion was based in part on the finding that R.I. was suffering from masked depression and intermittent rage disorder. The court entered an order committing R.I. to mandatory outpatient treatment. On June 22, 2004, R.I. appealed this ruling to the district court. On July 12, 2004, the district court entered the following order: “The court has reviewed the file herein and finds that the Magistrate’s findings and order are supported by the evidence, and the Magistrate’s order for outpatient commitment is affirmed.” R.I. appeals this order.[2]
II. Scope of Review
An involuntary hospitalization proceeding is triable as an ordinary action at law. In re Melodie L., 591 N.W.2d 4, 6 (Iowa 1999). Our review is for errors at law. Id. The allegations made in the application for involuntary commitment must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. See Iowa Code §229.12(3) (2003); In re J.P., 574 N.W.2d 340, 342 (Iowa 1998). There must be no serious or substantial doubt about the correctness of a particular conclusion drawn from the evidence J.P., 574 N.W.2d at 342. The district court’s findings of fact are binding on us if supported by substantial evidence. Id.
III. Finding of Serious Mental Impairment
A person found to have a serious mental impairment may be committed involuntarily. See Iowa Code § 229.13. Serious mental impairment is defined as the condition of a person with mental illness and because of that illness lacks sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions with respect to the person’s hospitalization or treatment, and who because of that illness meets any of the following criteria:
a. Is likely to physically injure the person’s self or others if allowed to remain at liberty without treatment.
b. Is likely to inflict serious emotional injury on members of the person’s family or others who lack reasonable opportunity to avoid contact with the person with mental illness if the person with mental illness is allowed to remain at liberty without treatment.
c. Is unable to satisfy the person’s needs for nourishment, clothing, essential medical care, or shelter so that it is likely that the person will suffer physical injury, physical debilitation, or death.
Iowa Code § 229.1(15).
Our supreme court has made clear that the definition of serious mental impairment has three elements. The respondent must be found to be (1) “afflicted with a mental illness,” consequently (2) to lack “sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions with respect to his or her hospitalization or treatment,” and (3) to be likely, if allowed to remain at liberty, to inflict physical injury on himself or others. In re Oseing, 296 N.W.2d 797, 799 (Iowa 1980). R.I. contends evidence offered at the involuntary commitment hearing did not support the conclusion that he was seriously mentally impaired. Upon review of the record, we agree.
The district court affirmed the magistrate’s written findings of fact which concluded that R.I. was afflicted with a mental illness because the doctor’s report indicates he “suffers from depression and intermittent rage disorder.”[3] We do not believe the record supports this finding. Dr. Fernandez examined R.I. on June 10, 2004. In the “impression” section of his written report, it appears Dr. Fernandez ruled out the possibility that R.I. was suffering from “masked depression” or “intermittent explosive disorder.”[4] The doctor did acknowledge that R.I. had “some depression” and that his “judgment is suspect.”
Although R.I. might well benefit from outpatient treatment, he cannot be involuntarily committed unless all the elements of serious mental impairment are proven by clear and convincing evidence. Upon review of the record, we conclude the evidence presented at R.I.’s involuntary commitment hearing was insufficient to establish that R.I. is afflicted with a mental illness. Accordingly, we reverse.
REVERSED.