State v. Ted B.

*30OPINION OF THE COURT

Chambers, J.

Under article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law, Ted B., a detained sex offender, has both a statutory and state constitutional right to a jury trial to determine whether he suffers from a mental abnormality requiring civil management. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that an on-the-record colloquy is required to ensure that a detained sex offender validly waives that right to a jury trial on the issue of mental abnormality. This requirement was not satisfied here, where the waiver of Ted B.’s right to a jury trial was apparently based solely upon a letter…