SVP Petition Cannot Be Filed in New York When Respondent Not in Custody for Sex Offense

In the Matter of the State of New York v. Rashid, 16 N.Y.3d 1, 2010 NY LEXIS 3339 (November 23, 2010)

The New York Court of Appeals has upheld the decision of the appellate court dismissing the Attorney General’s petition to commit this respondent under its Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act. Although the respondent had pled guilty to sodomy in 1991, he was incarcerated for robbery at the time the interagency notice was sent by the Department of Corrections that Rashid may be a sex offender. At the time the respondent received notice of the petition, he was in jail for petit larceny. Because the respondent was not subject to state custody or supervision, he was not a detained sex offender at the time the petition was filed for purposes of the Act. The Court also held that the proceedings commenced at the time the Attorney General filed the petition, not at the time notice was provided by the Department of Corrections.

Found in DMHL Volume 30 Issue 3