Preview:

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 6-324 / 05-1453 Filed July 12, 2006

IN RE THE DETENTION OF RONALD L. MILLER RONALD L. MILLER, Respondent-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Michael J. Moon, Judge.

Ronald L. Miller appeals his civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. AFFIRMED.

Mark Smith, First Assistant Appellate Defender, and Steven Addington, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Darrel Mullins, Assistant Attorney General, Andrew Prosser, Assistant Attorney General, and Jim P. Robbins, County Attorney, for appellee State.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Zimmer and Vaitheswaran, JJ. VAITHESWARAN, J.

2 A jury determined that Ronald L. Miller was a sexually violent predator, subject to civil commitment under Iowa Code chapter 229A (2005). On appeal, Miller contends the record lacks substantial evidence to support this determination. Specifically, he argues the State "failed to prove beyond a

reasonable doubt that [he] has a volitional impairment that causes him serious difficulty controlling his behavior." See In re Detention of Barnes, 658 N.W.2d 98, 101 (Iowa 2003). Our review of this issue is for errors of law, with fact findings binding us if supported by substantial evidence. In re Detention of Swanson, 668 N.W.2d 570, 574 (Iowa 2003). Miller has a twenty-five year history of convictions for crimes involving sexual acts with adolescent boys. In 1975, he was charged with lascivious acts with persons under the age of sixteen. delinquency of a minor. In 1979, Miller pled guilty to lascivious acts with a child. He testified that he knew his acts were illegal but he thought he might as well commit them because he had been accused of similar conduct in 1975. He also justified his behavior by noting that the boy with whom he engaged in the sex act was sexually active. On Miller's release from prison, he began a relationship with a sixteenyear-old boy. This relationship continued for several years. In 2000, Miller engaged in oral sex with a fourteen-year-old boy. Miller was charged with three counts of sexual abuse in the third-degree, and was ultimately convicted of two counts of solicitation to commit sexual abuse in the He pled guilty to contributing to the

3 third-degree. Miller testified the boy was the aggressor but he knew he should have taken responsibility and ignored the boy's advances. exchange is instructive: Q. You were obviously interested in sexual contact with him? A. Yes. Q. And but for whatever reason you couldn't or wouldn't stop yourself; is that accurate? A. I couldn't stop myself. What I should have done was when he

Download IN RE THE DETENTION OF RONALD L. MILLER RONALD L. MILLER, Respondent-Appellant..

Iowa Law