AZ- Treated sex offenders seldom re-offend

6-15-2008 Arizona:

Her nightmare started just after 5 p.m. Nov. 10, 1980.

She was taking a welding class at Pima Community College's downtown campus and had just pulled into the parking lot when Aaron Dean Davis ran up to her car.

"Lady, I just killed a man, get me out of here," he yelled at her as he pulled out a knife.

Davis forced her back into the car. They drove for miles. When they got close to the college's West Side campus, he forced her to stop in a nearby wash.

There, Davis beat and raped her. When it was over, he had her drop him off near Congress and Granada.

Davis was caught, convicted and sent to prison in August 1982.

With his sentence now up, Davis wants his freedom. The Pima County Attorney's Office is trying to make sure that doesn't happen.

For the past 10 years, Arizona prosecutors have had the power to have convicted sex offenders committed to the state hospital past the end of their prison terms if they believe the person remains a threat.

Once that happens, the only way out is to convince a judge he is no longer a danger.
There are indicators that a program that puts former inmates into the Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center is having the desired effect on these most threatening of sex offenders.

Of the 104 men who have been through the program and released, two have been re-arrested. That compares to a 15 percent rate of repeat violations for sex offenders overall, according to Sergio Martinez, a forensic psychologist who evaluates convicts to see if they should be placed in the program.

But the security of keeping those sexually violent predators off street has a price.

The Arizona Department of Corrections spends $61.74 a day for each prisoner. The cost to treat a sexually violent person in the state's Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center is $325.71.

Since the first convict was committed under a new law in 1998, 110 such predators, all men, have been sent to the state hospital for treatment after the end of their sentences. Another 65 nearing their release dates are being evaluated for commitment.

The 104 who have been released spent an average of three to four extra years in state custody — the longest six years.

The process of having sex offenders committed starts at the state prison. When they are within 180 days of being released, prison officials send those they believe may require civil commitment to either Martinez or Dr. Barry Morenz, a forensic psychiatrist, for evaluation.

If they believe the defendant has a mental disorder that makes it "highly probable" he'll commit another sexually violent act, they notify the county attorney.

A hearing before a judge is held, at which the defendant's attorney can submit evidence from other doctors who believe his client isn't sexually violent. If the judge believes there is "probable cause" the defendant is a threat, the individual is transferred to the Arizona State Hospital for an evaluation by another doctor.

If that doctor agrees with the first, a jury trial is held. If a jury determines a defendant is sexually violent, he becomes a resident at the treatment center.

Martinez said being found sexually violent requires not just a conviction. In addition, the individual must be diagnosed with certain types of mental disorders and lack the ability to control his behavior, and the judge and a doctor must agree it is "highly probable" he will commit another sex crime.

Of the more than 600 prisoners he has evaluated in eight years, only about 5 percent qualify, Martinez said.

In Davis' case, Pima County Superior Court Judge Nanette Warner ruled Davis is a sexually violent person. But his attorney, Assistant Pima County Public Defender Donald Klein, is contesting her decision. A hearing is scheduled for June 23.

Once someone is committed, individual and group counseling sessions designed to help the "resident" understand what arouses him, how to manage his deviant thoughts and how to avoid those situations are mandatory, said Dan Montaldi, a psychologist and chief evaluator at the treatment center.

Gradually, "residents" earn more access to the community, although they may be kept under surveillance or required to wear GPS monitors — sometimes living in group homes, taking jobs or attending school.

While sexually violent people cannot be cured, the intensity of their deviant thoughts and their urge to act upon them can be lessened, Montaldi said, making them less likely to re-offend than those who receive no treatment at all.

"Treatment is one of the factors that can reduce the recidivism rate, but it depends on the quality of the program," Martinez said.

Everyone committed to the treatment center has the right to be evaluated annually under Arizona law, Montaldi said.

During those evaluations, prosecutors and doctors have to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that a resident's mental disorder hasn't changed. If they can't prove it, a judge must release that person.

Five times in the program's 10 years, doctors and prosecutors felt a resident was still dangerous and were overruled by judges, Montaldi said. Two of the five have been re-arrested, although neither for a violent sexual crime, Montaldi said. None of the five were Pima County cases.

On the flip side, Montaldi said there are residents who never ask to be discharged.
"There are a few who are well-behaved here, but they themselves feel they are a danger to the public and want to protect society," Montaldi said.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer, who once headed the office's sex-crimes unit, believes the program keeps high-risk offenders off our streets.

Mayer recalls one convicted sex offender who bragged in prison about committing thousands of kidnappings and rapes, including the pitchfork death of a 14-year-old girl. When it came time for him to be released, and he was going through the evaluation process to be committed, his DNA matched a San Francisco cold case involving a 14-year-old rape and murder victim, Mayer said. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to prison in that case.

Defense attorney Brick Storts said that when the state started committing sexually violent people, the program was "draconian," but it has improved a great deal since then. No longer is it run like a prison, Storts said.

In addition, prosecutors have become much more discriminating about whom they try to commit, Storts said.

Part of the change stems from Arizona and U.S. Supreme Court rulings limiting the number of people eligible for the program, such as a state ruling it must be "highly probable" the person will re-offend, not just "possible" or "probable."
In addition, more and more sex offenders are being sent to prison, but also being placed on lifetime probation, Mayer said.

If a sex offender made a plea deal agreeing to lifetime probation following prison, it would be ethically improper to seek a civil commitment, Mayer said. The offender is going to be monitored just as closely and required to seek treatment as a term of probation anyway.

Also, some prisoners are admitting they are sexually violent as part of a plea deal that guarantees them a shot at a less-restrictive program, such as being considered for placement in a group home, Montaldi said.
One of Assistant Pima County Public Defender John O'Brien's clients did exactly that, was eventually discharged from the program and has had no subsequent run-ins with the law.

"From his point of view, it works," O'Brien said. "He gradually earned greater freedoms, got to go on day trips and even got a job."

John Cooper, chief executive officer for the Arizona State Hospital, said Arizona is far more advanced than many other states in terms of treatment, assessment and integration of sex offenders.

Many other states are simply building more prisons, Cooper said. ..News Source.. by Kim Smith,
Arizona Daily Star