In sexually violent predator involuntarily commitment proceedings, the trial court is not required to instruct the jury that defendant could be committed only if he was completely unable to control his behavior. After a trial on an SVPA petition, Rose appealed alleging the court erred when it refused to instruct the jury that it must find him “dangerous beyond his control.” The Ninth Circuit rejected Roses claim that Kansas v. Hendricks (1997) 521 U.S. 346, and Kansas v. Crane (2002) 534 U.S. 407, require a finding of the complete inability to control conduct. Rather, the court held Crane and Hendricks require only a finding of some degree of loss of control.
Case Summaries