The Akron Legal News

10th District: Affidavits provided sufficient facts to justify court's interference for mentally ill woman

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: June 19, 2013

The 10th District Court of Appeals recently affirmed a probate court’s decision to commit a woman to the Twin Valley Behavioral Health Hospital.

The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division first issued an order directing a county sheriff to take M.R.M. into custody In June 2012.

The order was in response to an affidavit filed by Michele Bowers attesting that M.R.M. was mentally ill and subject to hospitalization by court order.

The affidavit claimed that M.R.M. posed a substantial risk of physical harm to others and to herself.

It supported those assertions with information from M.R.M.’s mother, which stated that M.R.M. “had a history of carrying a loaded handgun and a knife and that (she) stated she was going to kill everyone connected to the rapper Jay-Z.”

“Additionally, (M.R.M.) stated that the rapper Jay-Z was in her stomach and that she was going to cut him out,” 10th District Judge Julia Dorrian wrote in her case summary.

On court orders, M.R.M. was admitted to Twin Valley on June 21, 2012 and was later evaluated by a doctor, Justin Trevino.

Under the Ohio Revised Code, a hearing must be held no more than 10 days after the affidavit is filed.

The trial court failed to hold that hearing and had to dismiss Bowers’ affidavit on June 26, 2012.

That same day, Trevino filed an affidavit based on his interactions with M.R.M. at Twin Valley and stating that she was a mentally ill individual subject to hospitalization by court order.

His affidavit stated that M.R.M. threatened her psychiatrist, asked a social worker for financial assistance and described “children inside her body that were being raped.”

The probate court denied M.R.M.’s motion to suppress Trevino’s affidavit and proceeded to a hearing on July 6, 2012. A court magistrate reviewed Trevino’s affidavit and found M.R.M. was a mentally ill individual.

The probate court adopted that decision and ordered her to be committed to the Franklin County Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Board with placement at Twin Valley for no longer than 90 days.

On appeal to the 10th District, M.R.M. argued that the trial court should have granted her motion to suppress Trevino’s affidavit.

She claimed that the Bowers affidavit was insufficient to invoke the court’s jurisdiction and that her involuntary hospitalization was unlawful.

By extension, she contended Trevino’s medical examination was improper and should have been excluded as evidence.

In review, the three-judge appellate panel found Bowers’ affidavit properly included facts to substantiate her claims and that those facts were sufficient probable cause to show M.R.M.’s need for court interference.

“We conclude that the affidavit presented clear and convincing evidence to indicate probable cause that appellant was a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order. Therefore, the Bowers affidavit was sufficient to invoke the probate court’s jurisdiction, and appellant was subject to immediate hospitalization,” Dorrian stated.

The judges found that under the Ohio Revised Code, a hearing must take place no more than 10 days after the original affidavit is filed or the individual was detained.

If the hearing is not held in that time the individual must be immediately discharged, according to R.C. 5122.141(B).

The appellate panel determined that M.R.M.’s hearing did not take place in the proper time, but that the trial court properly dismissed the affidavit and a second affidavit was filed that same day.

“We conclude that this affidavit constituted clear and convincing evidence to indicate probable cause that appellant was a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order. Additionally, it constitutes competent, credible evidence in support of the probate court’s decision to order appellant’s continued hospitalization,” Dorrian wrote.

Fellow 10th District Judge Lisa Sadler and Presiding Judge William Klatt joined Dorrian to affirm the lower court’s ruling.

The case is cited In re: M.R.M., case No. 2013-Ohio-2312.

[Back]