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The Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed a trial court’s involuntary commitment order of a woman to the Logansport State Hospital for treatment, finding that there was clear and convincing evidence that the woman is mentally ill and her commitment is appropriate.
According to court records, in December 2021, the state charged B.A. with Level 2 felony criminal confinement, Level 5 felony criminal confinement, Class A misdemeanor domestic battery, class A misdemeanor interference with the reporting of a crime and Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
In February and March 2022, two separate clinical psychologists found B.A. was not competent to understand the criminal proceedings against her or to aid in her own defense.
In August 2022, the Hamilton Superior Court committed B.A. to the Logansport State Hospital for competency restoration services.
By February 2023, the hospital petitioned for the involuntary regular commitment of B.A. and claimed she suffered from bipolar I disorder and PTSD.
Doctor Danny Meadows opined that B.A.’s condition impairment resulted in her inability to function independently.
At a fact-finding hearing, Meadows testified that with the medication plan he had B.A. on, she showed some improvement with mood issues but little improvement with her delusional beliefs.
B.A. testified that she didn’t suffer from mental illness and stated that she only once suffered from epilepsy.
She was not sure she had an Indiana address and when asked about employment, she stated that she “would go to the fashion mall and the Body Shop” and teach professional ballet and modern dance on the weekends.
Her counsel objected to the proceedings, on the grounds that the hospital had not properly served B.A. with its petition for her commitment.
The trial court denied the objection and ordered her involuntary civil commitment.
The first issue brought to the court was whether B.A. preserved her argument of insufficient service of process, which she raised for the first time during the closing arguments of the fact-finding hearing on the hospital’s petition.
The appellate court disagreed and found that B.A.’s objection to the purported insufficient service of process was not timely and that she hadn’t demonstrated reversible error even if the service of process was insufficient.
B.A.’s argument relied on In re Commitment of M.E., 64 N.E.3d 855 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016), but the appellate court stated it would not follow it for several reasons.
Judge Paul Mathias wrote that the Indiana Supreme Court has expressly disapproved of the M.E. panel’s waiver analysis.
According to Mathias, the M.E. panel’s conclusion that waiver of a defense of insufficient service of process can never be valid in civil commitment cases is not supported by Indiana Trial Rules or precedent.
“Third, the M.E. panel did not conduct an analysis of whether the insufficient service of process in that case was prejudicial, and, thus, the panel’s analysis is at best incomplete from the standpoint of appellate review,” Mathias wrote.
The second issue raised was whether the hospital presented sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s order that she be committed to the hospital.
Mathias wrote that the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court’s conclusion that B.A.’s commitment is appropriate.
He noted B.A.’s argument that Meadows did not give a timeframe for her release, and, thus, his testimony is not sufficient to show that her commitment is appropriate.
“But we agree with the Hospital that B.A.’s argument here appears to ‘conflate[] her involuntary commitment case with her criminal case,’” Mathias wrote, adding that B.A. did not cite any provision of the Indiana Code that requires a date certain for a person’s release from an involuntary regular commitment in order to support a petition for that commitment.
Judges Nancy Vaidik and Rudolph Pyle concurred.
The case is In the Matter of the Commitment of: B.A., v. State of Indiana, 23A-MH-632.
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