## Facts

- Byron Neil Antone, while serving a federal sentence, was certified by the Bureau of Prisons as a “sexually dangerous person” under the Adam Walsh Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 4247–4248, shortly before his scheduled release, initiating federal civil-commitment proceedings.
- Antone had a history of childhood abuse, longstanding substance abuse, and multiple sexual offenses committed in the 1990s, typically while intoxicated, resulting in tribal-court sentences.
- After his last tribal conviction, Antone pursued a federal prosecution and pled guilty to obtain access to federal sex-offender and substance-abuse treatment; he received a 114-month sentence with recommendations for residential drug and sex-offender treatment.
- During roughly 14 years of continuous federal custody, Antone remained sober, attended AA/NA, sought counseling, maintained prison employment, obtained a GED, avoided serious disciplinary problems, and had no sexual misconduct or expressed interest in sexual misconduct.
- At the evidentiary hearing, experts agreed Antone had qualifying mental disorders (including paraphilia and alcohol dependence), but differed on whether those disorders currently impaired his ability to refrain from sexually dangerous conduct if released.
- Antone’s experts (who treated or personally evaluated him) opined that he had developed substantial self-control and presented a low risk of reoffending; the government’s principal expert (who did not interview him) relied on file review and emphasized past crimes and diagnoses to predict reoffense.
- A magistrate judge recommended against commitment, finding the government did not show Antone would have serious difficulty refraining if released; the district court adopted most factual and credibility findings but rejected the recommendation and ordered commitment.

## Issues

1. Whether the government proved by clear and convincing evidence that, as a result of a serious mental illness, abnormality, or disorder, Antone would have serious difficulty refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 4248(d).

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit reversed the civil-commitment order and remanded with instructions to enter judgment for Antone.
- The court held the evidence was insufficient to satisfy the third § 4248 element (current volitional impairment) by clear and convincing evidence.
- The court emphasized Antone’s long, offense-free period in custody, sustained sobriety, and engagement in treatment as strong evidence of improved self-regulation.
- The court found the district court placed undue weight on historical offenses and alcoholism and treated relapse-driven reoffense as too speculative under the clear and convincing standard, given the record.
- The court noted the district court’s outcome was difficult to reconcile with the credibility and factual findings it largely adopted from the magistrate judge, including the relative persuasiveness of Antone’s evaluating/treating experts.

## Legal Principles

- Under 18 U.S.C. § 4248(d), civil commitment requires the government to prove by clear and convincing evidence: (1) prior sexually violent conduct or child molestation (or attempts), (2) a serious mental illness, abnormality, or disorder, and (3) resulting serious difficulty refraining from sexually violent conduct or child molestation if released.
- The third element requires proof of present volitional impairment; past sexual offenses and diagnoses, without clear and convincing evidence of current serious difficulty controlling behavior, do not justify commitment.
- Predictions of future sexual violence must be supported by evidence meeting the clear and convincing standard; a conditional theory (e.g., potential substance relapse leading to reoffense) may be inadequate when contradicted by a sustained record of sobriety, treatment participation, and offense-free behavior.
- When a district court relies on expert-risk testimony, consistency with adopted credibility findings and the full evidentiary record matters in assessing whether the statutory burden has been met.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit held that the government failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that Antone’s current mental disorders would cause serious difficulty refraining from sexually violent conduct if released, and it reversed the § 4248 civil-commitment order with instructions to enter judgment in Antone’s favor.


United States v. Antone, 742 F.3d 151 (4th Cir. 2014)