Trial Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion By Declining To Depart From Presumptive Prison Sentence For a Defendant With Serious Mental Illness and Instead to Require Him To Complete Treatment Program

State v. Abdi, Minn.Ct.App., 10/27/2014.  Mr. Abdi entered an Alford plea to assault in the first degree.  At sentencing, Mr. Abdi asked the court to place him on probation and to require that he successfully complete an “appropriate supervised alternative living program having a mental health treatment component.”  Minn.Stat. 609.1055.  In support of that request, he presented testimony from the director of the treatment program who had this to say about that facility:

(1) the program has never had a resident who was sent there on probation by the criminal justice system; (2) about 50% of the residents have bipolar disorder; (3) the residents are on medication; (4) residents who are not compliant with their medication regimen are discharged; (5) residents stay an average of one year and eight months; (6) whether a resident is ready to leave is determined by the staff and the residents’ psychiatrists; and (7) nothing can be done to require residents who have chosen to leave the program to return to it.

Based on this description, and on testimony from Mr. Abdi’s psychiatrists, the trial court concluded that this treatment program was not sufficiently suitable.  The trial court also concluded that Mr. Abdi posed a serious risk to public safety, something the statute specifically requires the trial court to consider.