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In re Civil Commitment of Carroll12/6/2005
The district court committed appellant Elliott Carroll to the Minnesota Security Hospital for an indeterminate period as mentally ill and dangerous. On appeal, he argues that he did not commit an overt act causing or attempting to cause serious physical harm to another and that the 60-day treatment report was not proper because it was not prepared by a member of his treatment team. Because Carroll engaged in overt acts causing or attempting to cause serious physical harm to others, and because the head of the treatment facility properly delegated the task of preparing the treatment report, we affirm.
FACTS
Carroll, born in 1971, has a history of psychiatric treatment that began in 1991. Since then, he has been repeatedly committed as mentally ill, followed by provisional discharges that were revoked or by new petitions for commitment as mentally ill. Upon release from confinement, he has had a pattern of stopping his medication, consuming alcohol or street drugs, and engaging in threats or assaultive behavior.
Carroll was most recently recommitted as mentally ill in November 2003, and he agreed to the order extending authorization for administration of neuroleptic medication. He was provisionally discharged on November 5, 2003, but, after he failed to take his medication and threatened to kill his sister, his provisional discharge was revoked on September 2, 2004. On September 23, 2004, he was again provisionally discharged. On October 18, 2004, case-management staff visited Carroll's apartment and observed broken windows; Carroll also threatened a juvenile female, whom he had accused of stealing money. Carroll's sister received reports of these difficulties. She called his nurse and also asked the police to check his condition. The police brought him to a crisis center.
On October 19, 2004, while at the crisis center, Carroll assaulted two mental-health workers after his repeated requests to smoke had been denied. He first hit a mental-health worker in the eye. After calling for security, a senior psychiatric social worker grabbed a cushion to put between Carroll and the other worker; he then used the cushion to block a chair that Carroll had picked up. Carroll hit the mental-health worker again in the mouth and nose, causing him to crumple to the floor and to require treatment in an emergency room. Carroll then punched the social worker in the left temple with a closed fist, knocking his glasses off. Security arrived, and Carroll was secluded, restrained, and given emergency medications. A petition for his commitment as mentally ill and dangerous was filed.
A staff psychiatrist at the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) diagnosed Carroll with schizophrenia. He noted that Carroll has a longstanding history of aggression when refused a cigarette, money, or other things he requests. Besides the recent incidents in the hospital, the HCMC psychiatrist noted that Carroll assaulted a doctor and a nurse in Anoka in 2000 when he was not allowed to have a cigarette. He assaulted his sister when he wanted money from her, and he assaulted and threatened others. Carroll also attacked his mother with a board and, in another incident, assaulted her. The HCMC psychiatrist noted that he himself had been assaulted in 1998 by Carroll, who threw a food tray at him, bruising his jaw, when he refused Carroll's request for a pass.
The HCMC psychiatrist testified that Carroll had engaged in acts capable of causing serious physical harm to others. The injury to the mental-health worker could have been substantial, ranging from a hemorrhage on the retina to a detached retina. Carroll's blow to the HCMC psychiatrist in 1998 was hard enough that it could
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