United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 22-1031 ___________________________ United States of America, lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee, v. Dewayne Gray, lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant. ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield ____________ Submitted: November 18, 2022 Filed: February 1, 2023 ____________ Before COLLOTON, SHEPHERD, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________ COLLOTON, Circuit Judge. Dewayne Gray appeals a judgment of the district court* committing him to the custody of the Attorney General for medical care and treatment under 18 U.S.C. § 4246. The court found that Gray presently suffered from a mental disease or defect as a result of which his release from custody posed a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to the property of another. We conclude that the findings underlying the commitment were not clearly erroneous, and affirm the judgment. I. Gray has a history of schizophrenia and violent acts. Since 2013, he has been convicted twice for assault with significant bodily injury and five times for simple assault. In 2019, while on supervised release for an earlier assault conviction, he repeatedly punched a stranger on the street in the head. For that assault, he was sentenced to thirty months’ imprisonment. In February 2020, while serving a federal prison sentence, Gray was transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. At the Medical Center, however, he failed to comply with his medication regimen, and he assaulted staff members. In January 2021, Gray was committed to the custody of the Attorney General under 18 U.S.C. § 4245. That provision allows for the hospitalization of a person who is serving a sentence in a criminal case where the offender is presently suffering * The Honorable M. Douglas Harpool, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, adopting the report and recommendation of the Honorable David P. Rush, United States Chief Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Missouri. -2- from a mental disease or defect. The offender may be hospitalized until he no longer needs care or treatment or until his sentence of imprisonment expires, whichever occurs earlier. 18 U.S.C. § 4245(d). As Gray’s sentence neared expiration, the Medical Center convened a risk assessment review panel to determine whether Gray met the criteria for civil commitment under 18 U.S.C. § 4246. Section 4246 provides for the indefinite hospitalization of a prisoner who is due for release if a court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the prisoner is suffering from a mental disease or defect as a result of which his release would pose a substantial risk of bodily injury to another person or serious damage to the property of another. The review panel was composed of a psychologist and a psychiatrist who interviewed Gray and considered his records. The panel recommended Gray’s commitment, and the warden of the Medical Center certified the recommendation. The panel cited Gray’s “severe mental illness, his lengthy history of violent and destructive …
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