Andrews

We transferred this case from the Appeals Court on our own motion to provide clarity on a question left unanswered in Thompson v. Commonwealth, 386 Mass. 811 (1982) (Thompson). General Laws c. 123, § 9 (b), provides an opportunity for civilly committed patients to apply to the Superior Court for discharge or transfer to a different facility. In Thompson, we mled that the burden of proof in a proceeding under § 9 (b) was placed properly on the applicant, id. at 818, but did not reach the question of the standard of proof necessary to carry that burden. We now hold that an applicant in a…