*1 APPEAL by Kerry K., in a proceeding pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law article 10 for the civil management of Kerry K., a sex offender allegedly requiring civil management, from an order of the Supreme Court (Jerry Garguilo, J.), dated June 25, 2015, and entered in Suffolk County, which, upon a finding, made after a nonjury trial, that he suffers from a mental abnormality as defined in Mental Hygiene Law §10.03(i), and upon a determination, made after a dispositional hearing, that he is a sex offender requiring strict and intensive supervision and treatment, granted the petition and directed that he be subject to a regimen of strict and intensive supervision and treatment.*2
SANDRA SGROI, J.OPINION & ORDERThe State of New York commenced this proceeding pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law article 10 against Kerry K., a detained sex offender, alleging that he suffers from a mental abnormality as defined in that statute (see Mental Hygiene Law §10.03[e]) and, thus, requires civil management (see Mental Hygiene Law §10.03[q]). Upon a finding of probable cause to support the petition, a nonjury trial was held, after which the Supreme Court concluded that Kerry K. suffers from such a mental abnormality. After a dispositional hearing, the court issued an order of strict and intensive supervision and treatment (hereinafter SIST).This appeal from the SIST order raises the issues of whether the failure to hold the probable cause hearing and the trial on the petition within the statutory time frames required dismissal of the petition. It further presents the questions of whether the Supreme Court erred by permitting the State to rely upon sealed records obtained from local authorities, and in admitting hearsay testimony from the State’s experts, as the basis for their opinions, regarding two convictions of sex offenses of which Kerry K. was later exonerated. We conclude that the failure to conduct the probable cause hearing and trial within the statutory time frames did not deprive the court of jurisdiction or, under the circumstances, violate Kerry K.’s due process rights. We further hold that Mental Hygiene Law §10.08(c) permits the State to obtain, from local government entities, sealed records relating to an offender’s commission or alleged commission of a sex offense. However, because we conclude that the court erred in admitting the hearsay basis testimony regarding convictions of which Kerry K. was exonerated, and that this error was not harmless, we remit the matter to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for a new trial on the issue of whether Kerry K. suffers from a mental abnormality.On October 23, 1997, Kerry K. was convicted, after a jury trial, of rape in the first degree and sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of 7 to 21 years. On March 4, 2013, prior to
