Justice William McCarthy
Respondent pleaded guilty in 1997 to sodomy and having sex with three boys. After completing sex offender treatment, he was paroled in 2008. Later accused of exposing his penis to youth, he was sentenced to one year in prison for endangering a child’s welfare. Parole was revoked. In a 2010 proceeding under Mental Hygiene Law Article 10, a jury found him a dangerous sex offender requiring civil confinement. Third Department affirmed Supreme Court’s 2011 confinement order. Given comments that he intended to disrupt or prevent the trial’s orderly conduct, Supreme Court did not err in denying respondent’s request to proceed pro se. The jury’s verdict was not against the weight of the evidence, nor was respondent deprived of effective assistance of counsel. Applying the criminal standard, the Third Department found that the only error was counsel’s choice of psychologist Powell as an expert witness. Despite licensure in Vermont, Powell’s application for licensure in New York was pending. However, the Third Department concluded that counsel could not be faulted for not realizing, when hired, that Powell would not be licensed by the time the dispositional phase of respondent’s trial occurred more than a year later.
