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Description: Green Bay, Wisconsin criminal defense lawyer represented defendant charged with being a danger to himself and others.


¶2 In July 2021, Steve returned to his home after completing treatment at an alcohol rehabilitation facility. Steve failed to maintain his sobriety, and his behavior over the weekend of July 9 caused his wife Carol to call the police two separate times. Steve was ultimately placed on an emergency detention after sending text messages to his family with statements like "goodbye," disappearing from his home for over a day, and then returning home intoxicated and wearing his T-shirt inside-out.

¶3 At the final commitment hearing, psychiatrist Marshall Bales testified regarding his examination of Steve and his review of records relevant to Steve's behavior. Bales testified that he believed that Steve had bipolar disorder and described the symptoms of Steve's illness:

He's had psychotic symptoms with it and-but mainly very severe mood swings, highs and lows in moods, irritability, lability, depression, and then he's also heard voices more recently. But he's had mood swings off and on for years, yet the whole presentation has been worse lately and then also complicated by some alcohol use problems.

Bales explained that although Steve exhibited most of the above symptoms during the examination, because Steve was a police officer, "he knows all about exactly

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why I was there for the Chapter 51 matter." Bales noted that as a result, Steve is "very intelligent, but he was trying to downplay, minimize, and even rationalize all of the events leading to this hospitalization and this extensive police involvement scenario and such." Bales testified that Steve admitted to hearing voices and that Carol had confirmed as much, although Steve was not hearing voices at the time of Bales' examination of him.

¶4 Doctor Bales testified that during the examination, Steve confirmed the events outlined in the statement of detention in their entirety. When asked, "Did [Steve] specifically admit that he had a plan to end his life?" Bales did not provide a yes or no answer. Instead, Bales reiterated that Steve had confirmed the events set forth in the statement of detention, and Bales summarized those facts as follows:

[Steve] sent messages to his family stating good-bye, stating-I'm paraphrasing this. He said he was going to leave the house and be out of the world. He left Rockford Rehab, stopped his medication, and wanted no police presence at his house, and then there's a few more things. And he said [to another deputy] if you come out to my house, you better bring a gun belt. He confirmed that. And then [the statement of detention] said, yesterday he told his wife he was going to disappear. He left at about 12:00 a.m. and returned later wearing underwear and a shirt, a T-shirt inside out. He confirmed this.

In explaining Steve's confirmation of these events, Bales stated, "He said he had been drinking too much when he said it, but he said it did happen." Bales confirmed that Steve's mental illness and the admissions he had made-including his statement about a deputy bringing a gun belt and his admission to hearing voices-were separate from his drinking problem. While Bales noted that Steve's presentation was complicated by his alcohol use problems, Bales testified, "in my opinion, this is about far more than his abuse of alcohol."

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¶5 Doctor Bales further testified that he believed that Steve was stable enough to be placed on outpatient treatment. Bales then clarified, "I would defer the timing to the Court or his team, but he was not suicidal or violent when I met with him. He was cordial, he was pleasant."

¶6 Carol testified next. She recounted that she first called the police on July 9 after not hearing from Steve, who had begun drinking again. Carol explained that after law enforcement arrived, she told them that Steve was sleeping downstairs. The officers would not enter the house, however, due to a previous situation unknown to her, one that she declined to talk about at the hearing because it was "secondhand." Thereafter, she again asked the officers to talk with Steve, as he was "just sleeping" downstairs; however, they refused. After Steve drank more throughout the day, Carol testified that Steve "was just getting belligerent and I wanted him out of the house." Carol called the police a second time on July 9 at around 8:00 p.m., but they again refused to enter her home. Ultimately, Carol barricaded herself in her bedroom by placing a side table in front of the door. However, Carol testified that she "was not scared of [Steve]. He wasn't going to hurt me. He was obnoxious. He was a drunk, obnoxious person."

¶7 Carol further explained that she had removed in excess of twenty guns from their home at the advice of Steve's brother. She also stated that she had been in constant contact with Steve's brother to try to figure out what steps to take regarding Steve, as Steve's relapse with alcohol was a "scary, sad, situation." In addition, Carol confirmed that on July 10, the day after she had barricaded herself in her room, Steve admitted to her that he had been hearing voices.

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¶8 Carol testified that later that weekend, while she was in Madison attending a funeral, Steve's brother called to let her know that Steve had started drinking again. When she arrived home later that night, she assumed that Steve was home because his truck was there, and when she looked in the basement, she thought he was sleeping there. At lunch the next day, Carol came home to check on Steve, but he was not there. After talking with Steve's brother and determining that they needed to find Steve, Carol spoke with a friend of Steve's, who was also a deputy. Steve's deputy friend then talked to law enforcement to "get [Steve's] phone pinged" so they could find Steve. On Monday morning, Steve arrived home intoxicated, wearing shorts and a T-shirt that was on both backward and inside-out.[3]

¶9 Kevin, who had known Steve since junior high, testified next. He explained that he had called Steve on Sunday afternoon to see if he wanted to go to Michigan, and Steve had asked to be picked up because he had been drinking and could not drive. While Kevin was driving, Steve hit him "eight to ten times throughout the evening" and knocked off Kevin's glasses. In addition, Steve asked Kevin to turn onto narrow rural roads in Michigan several times. When Kevin finally made the requested turn, Steve had him pull the car over, but did not explain why he did so, and simply agreed when Kevin suggested they get back on the main road. Additionally, Steve requested that they perform certain evasive maneuvers to avoid persons he thought were following him, leaving Kevin confused and concerned. Kevin testified that there were times during the night

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when Steve said "goodbye" to him: "I asked [Steve] what he meant and he got angry with me. And I said, I'm sorry to upset you, but when people say things like that, they are usually thinking about suicide, and [Steve] just ignored it." Kevin confirmed that Steve did not specifically express to him that he was planning to commit suicide.

¶10 Following the witnesses' testimony, the circuit court concluded that Steve had a mental illness that was being amplified by alcohol and that Steve suffered from psychotic behavior, mood swings, irritability, and depression. The court noted Dr. Bales' testimony that Steve had been hearing voices and that his presentation had been worsening. In addition, the court found that "[Steve] was downplaying, minimizing, and rationalizing the mental illness diagnosis and blaming it on drinking too much."

¶11 The circuit court further concluded that Steve was a significant danger to himself, based upon his statements and the context for those statements that was provided through the testimony at the hearing. Specifically, the court reasoned:

He's talking about leaving this world and then making a statement to the Brown County Deputy that if they come up to his house, they better bring a gun belt. And I know we are basing this on [Steve] acknowledging that he made that statement.... And I believe that's a very significant statement to make from somebody who now we have a doctor saying that does have a mental illness, that that makes [Steve] a significant danger to himself requiring a commitment and treatment. The only reason I think the guns in the home are relevant in this case is that it verifies that there was an opportunity to carry out the threat that if they come to his home that they better bring a gun belt.

Following the above analysis, the court ultimately stated: "I think that's a very clear manifestation of somebody . describing a suicide by police officer type

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situation." The court further explained that under the statute, a threat of suicide or serious bodily harm is sufficient to meet the dangerousness standard.

¶12 The circuit court ordered Steve's involuntary commitment on an outpatient basis but it declined to enter an accompanying order for involuntary medication and treatment, concluding that Steve had the capability to understand his medications and make his own decisions regarding those medications. This appeal follows. We include additional facts below as relevant to our discussion.

Outcome: Affirmed.

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