Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 975 - Sex crimes law.
975.06 - Commitment to the department.

975.06 Commitment to the department.
(1)
(a) If the department recommends specialized treatment for the defendant's mental or physical aberrations, the court shall order a hearing on the issue of the need for specialized treatment unless such hearing is expressly waived by the defendant. The hearing shall be conducted by the court or as provided in par. (b). The court may consider any department rule established in accordance with ch. 227 establishing criteria for recommending specialized treatment. The defendant shall be afforded the opportunity to appear with counsel; process to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence; and a physician, or clinical psychologist of defendant's choosing to examine the defendant and testify in defendant's behalf. If unable to provide counsel or expert witness, the court shall appoint such to represent or examine the defendant.
(b) The hearing shall be to a jury, unless the defendant waives a jury. The number of jurors shall be determined under s. 756.06 (2) (b). The procedure shall be substantially like a jury trial in a civil action. The judge may instruct the jurors in the law. No verdict is valid or received unless agreed to and signed by five-sixths of the jurors. At the time of ordering a jury to be summoned, the court shall fix the date of hearing, which date shall be not less than 30 days nor more than 40 days after the demand for the jury was made. The court shall submit to the jury the following form of verdict:
STATE OF WISCONSIN
.... County
Members of the Jury:
Do you find from the evidence that the defendant .... (Insert name) .... is in need of specialized treatment? Answer “Yes" or “No".
(2) If, upon completion of the hearing as required in sub. (1), it is found that the defendant is in need of specialized treatment the court shall commit the defendant to the department. The court may stay execution of the commitment and place the defendant on probation under ch. 973 with a condition of probation that the defendant receive treatment in a manner to be prescribed by the court. If the defendant is not placed on probation, the court shall order the defendant conveyed by the proper county authorities, at county expense, to the sex crimes law facility designated by the department.
(3) Probation under sub. (2) shall be construed as a commitment to the department for the purposes of continuation of control as provided in this chapter.
(4) If, upon the completion of the hearing required in sub. (1), it is found that the defendant is not in need of such specialized treatment the court shall sentence the defendant as provided in ch. 973.
(5) If records of the department are required for any hearing under this chapter, they shall be made available upon a subpoena directed to the coordinator of the special review board of the department, who may respond in person or designate an agent to produce the records of the department.
(6) Persons committed under this section who are also encumbered with other sentences, whether concurrent with or consecutive to the commitment, may be placed by the department in any of the facilities listed in s. 975.08 (2) or (3) (a). Such facilities may be regarded as state prisons for the purpose of beginning the other sentences, crediting time served on them, and computing parole eligibility dates.
(7) If the defendant is not subject to a court order determining the defendant to be not competent to refuse medication or treatment for the defendant's mental condition and if the facility to which the defendant is conveyed under sub. (2) determines that the defendant should be subject to such a court order, the facility may file with the court with notice to the counsel for the defendant, the defendant and the district attorney, a motion for a hearing, under the standard specified in s. 51.61 (1) (g) 4., on whether the defendant is not competent to refuse medication or treatment. A report on which the motion is based shall accompany the motion and notice of motion and shall include a statement signed by a licensed physician that asserts that the defendant needs medication or treatment and that the defendant is not competent to refuse medication or treatment, based on an examination of the defendant by a licensed physician. Within 10 days after a motion is filed under this subsection, the court without a jury shall determine the defendant's competency to refuse medication or treatment. At the request of the defendant, the defendant's counsel or the district attorney, the hearing may be postponed, but in no case may the postponed hearing be held more than 20 days after a motion is filed under this subsection. If the district attorney, the defendant and defense counsel waive their respective opportunities to present other evidence on the issue, the court shall determine without a jury the defendant's competency to refuse medication or treatment on the basis of the report accompanying the motion. In the absence of these waivers, the court shall hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue. Upon consent of all parties and approval by the court for good cause shown, testimony may be received into the record of the hearing by telephone or live audiovisual means. If the state proves by evidence that is clear and convincing that the defendant is not competent to refuse medication or treatment, under the standard specified in s. 51.61 (1) (g) 4., the court shall make a determination and issue as part of the defendant's commitment order an order that the defendant is not competent to refuse medication or treatment and that whoever administers the medication or treatment to the defendant shall observe appropriate medical standards.
History: 1973 c. 44; 1975 c. 155, 199, 200; 1977 c. 318; 1977 c. 447 s. 210; 1981 c. 20; 1989 a. 31; 1995 a. 268; Sup. Ct. Order No. 96-08, 207 Wis. 2d xv (1997); 1999 a. 85.
Legislative Council Note, 1975: This bill inserts provisions for a jury trial in the procedures to commit (s. 975.06) and recommit (s. 975.14) convicted defendants for special treatment under the Sex Crimes Law. In State ex rel. Farrell v. Stovall (1973), 59 Wis. 2d 148, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled, on equal protection grounds, that hearings on commitment and recommitment under the Sex Crimes Law must give the defendant the same rights as a proceeding under Ch. 51 (commitment for mental illness); i.e., a hearing on the issue to a jury. This bill provides for a 12-person jury, but allows the defendant to request a 6-person jury or waive a jury. It also requires that jury verdicts favoring special treatment must be agreed to by five-sixths of the jurors. The five-sixths requirement is drawn from ch. 51, and is also the standard for civil actions (see s. 270.25 [805.09 (2)]). [Bill 259-A]
A commitment to the department does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Howland v. State, 51 Wis. 2d 162, 186 N.W.2d 319 (1971).
The defendant is entitled to a jury determination on the question of his sexual deviancy at his initial commitment and any recommitment under s. 975.14. The procedure is substantially like a jury trial in a civil action. Some distinctions as to judicial review and release are still permitted. State ex rel. Farrell v. Stovall, 59 Wis. 2d 148, 207 N.W.2d 809 (1973).
A defendant, convicted of rape, committed while out on bail awaiting a new trial on a prior rape charge, who was placed on probation and ordered to receive outpatient treatment as a sex deviate upon the department's recommendation, did not, after retrial and conviction of the first offense and a change in the department's report, establish trial court abuse of discretion in committing him to the department. Cousins v. State, 62 Wis. 2d 217, 214 N.W.2d 315 (1974).
A court may impose a criminal sentence consecutive to a sex crimes commitment. State v. Kruse, 101 Wis. 2d 387, 305 N.W.2d 85 (1981).