Iowa Code § 229A.7 - Trial — determination — commitment procedure — chapter 28E agreements — mistrials

1. If the person charged with a sexually violent offense has been found incompetent to stand trial and the person is about to be released pursuant to chapter 812, or if a petition has been filed seeking the person’s commitment under this chapter, the court shall first hear evidence and determine whether the person did commit the act or acts charged. At the hearing on this issue, the rules of evidence applicable in criminal cases shall apply, and all constitutional rights available to defendants at criminal trials, other than the right not to be tried while incompetent, shall apply. After hearing evidence on this issue, the court shall make specific findings on whether the person did commit the act or acts charged, the extent to which the person’s incompetence affected the outcome of the hearing, including its effect on the person’s ability to consult with and assist counsel and to testify on the person’s own behalf, the extent to which the evidence could be reconstructed without the assistance of the person, and the strength of the prosecution’s case. If, after the conclusion of the hearing on this issue, the court finds, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person did commit the act or acts charged, the court shall enter a final order, appealable by the person, on that issue, and may proceed to consider whether the person should be committed pursuant to this chapter. 2. If a person has been found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court shall determine whether the acts charged were proven as a matter of law. If as a matter of law the finding of not guilty by reason of insanity requires a finding that the underlying elements of the charged offense were proven, then no further fact-finding is required. If as a matter of law the finding of not guilty by reason of insanity does not require a finding that the underlying elements of the charged offense be proven, the case shall proceed in the same manner as if the person were found to be incompetent to stand trial as provided in subsection 1. 3. Within ninety days after either the entry of the order waiving the probable cause hearing or completion of the probable cause hearing held under section 229A.5, the court shall conduct a trial to determine whether the respondent is a sexually violent predator. The respondent or the attorney for the respondent may waive the ninety-day trial requirement as provided in this section; however, the respondent or the attorney for the respondent may reassert a demand and the trial shall be held within ninety days from the date of filing the demand with the clerk of court. The trial may be continued upon the request of either party and a showing of good cause, or by the court on its own motion in the due administration of justice, and when the respondent will not be substantially prejudiced. In determining what constitutes good cause, the court shall consider the length of the pretrial detention of the respondent. 4. The respondent, the attorney general, or the judge shall have the right to demand that the trial be before a jury. Such demand for the trial to be before a jury shall be filed, in writing, at least ten days prior to trial. If no demand is made, the trial shall be before the court. Except as otherwise provided, the Iowa rules of evidence and the Iowa rules of civil procedure shall apply to all civil commitment proceedings initiated pursuant to this chapter. 5. a. At trial, the court or jury shall determine whether, beyond a reasonable doubt, the respondent is a sexually violent predator. If the case is before a jury, the verdict shall be unanimous that the respondent is a sexually violent predator. b. If the court or jury determines that the respondent is a sexually violent predator, the respondent shall be committed to the custody of the director for control, care, and treatment until such time as the person’s mental abnormality has so changed that the person is safe to be placed in a transitional release program or discharged. The determination may be appealed. c. At trial, the court shall admit, and the fact finder may rely on, the findings of an administrative parole judge or other agency fact finder. 6. If the court or jury determines that the respondent is a sexually violent predator, the court shall order the respondent to submit a DNA sample for DNA profiling pursuant to section 81.4. 7. The control, care, and treatment of a person determined to be a sexually violent predator shall be provided at a facility operated by the department. At all times prior to placement in a transitional release program or release with supervision, persons committed for control, care, and treatment by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be kept in a secure facility and those patients shall be segregated at all times from any other patient under the supervision of the department. A person committed pursuant to this chapter to the custody of the department may be kept in a facility or building separate from any other patient under the supervision of the department. The department may enter into a chapter 28E agreement with the department of corrections or other appropriate agency in this state or another state for the confinement of patients who have been determined to be sexually violent predators. Patients who are in the custody of the director of the department of corrections pursuant to a chapter 28E agreement and who have not been placed in a transitional release program or released with supervision shall be housed and managed separately from criminal offenders in the custody of the director of the department of corrections, and except for occasional instances of supervised incidental contact, shall be segregated from those offenders. 8. If the court makes the determination or the jury determines that the respondent is not a sexually violent predator, the court shall direct the respondent’s release. Upon release, the respondent shall comply with any requirements to register as a sex offender as provided in chapter 692A. Upon a mistrial, the court shall direct that the respondent be held at an appropriate secure facility until another trial is conducted. Any subsequent trial following a mistrial shall be held within ninety days of the previous trial, unless such subsequent trial is continued or the ninety days are waived as provided in subsection 3. 98 Acts, ch 1171, §7; 99 Acts, ch 61, §6, 7, 14; 2000 Acts, ch 1058, §24; 2002 Acts, ch 1139, §8, 9, 27; 2004 Acts, ch 1060, §1, 2; 2004 Acts, ch 1084, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 158, §11, 19; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §228; 2018 Acts, ch 1165, §100; 2019 Acts, ch 17, §5; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §537, 538 Referred to in §9E.2, 81.1, 92.20