State v. Foster

Syllabus

The acquittee, who had been found not guilty of the crimes of burglary in the first degree, risk of injury to a minor, assault in the third degree and possession of weapon on school grounds, appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court granting the state's petition seeking his continued commitment to the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board pursuant to statute (§ 17a-593). Held: 1. The trial court did not err in finding that the state met its burden under § 17a-593, governing continued commitment to the board, of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that the acquittee currently was men- tally ill and posed a risk of imminent harm to himself or others: contrary to the acquittee's claim, the court's statements, in which it expressed concern for the welfare of schoolchildren and women, were not improper, as the court's references to the well-being of schoolchildren was logically linked to the offenses for which the acquittee was prose- cuted, and the court did not suggest or explicitly state that the acquittee had engaged in subsequent acts of violence toward a schoolchild, and the court's reference to the well-being of women logically was related to the records of the acquittee's confinement that were submitted in evidence, those records reflecting that the acquittee's treatment history during his commitment included several instances in which he intimi- dated, inappropriately touched, or made socially inappropriate state- ments to female staff members; moreover, the court could have found that, although under his current level of board supervision the acquittee did not pose an imminent risk of physical injury to himself or others, it was likely that he would pose an imminent risk of physical injury to himself or others if he were to be released from the board's supervision entirely because the evidence before the court logically supported a finding that he would risk relapse once outside of his present controlled environment a