In re Pers. Restraint of Meirhofer (Majority and Dissent)
Annotate this CaseIn the late 1980s, Alan Meirhofer was charged with several counts of brutally raping children, along with charges of burglary and kidnapping. Meirhofer was implicated in several more child rapes. As Meirhofer finished serving his criminal sentence, the State brought SVP commitment proceedings against him under the sexually violent predator (SVP) act, chapter 71.09 RCW, in 2000. He sought a full evidentiary proceeding on whether he still met the statutory and constitutional criteria for SVP commitment. Before holding such a full evidentiary proceeding, the SVP act directs trial courts to hold an initial show cause hearing to determine whether the State has presented prima facie evidence that continued commitment is justified or the detainee has presented prima facie evidence that his or her condition has "so changed" as to warrant a new evidentiary proceeding. The trial court found the State had made its showing and Meirhofer had not. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed.
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