Opinion
April 6, 1987
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Dutchess County (King, J.).
Ordered that the appeal is dismissed as academic, without costs or disbursements.
The three-month detention order in question expired, by its own terms, in October 1986. Thereafter, the patient Oscar Casillas signed a voluntary request for hospitalization. Thus, the instant appeal is moot because the rights and interests of the parties will not be directly affected by a determination on the merits (see, Matter of Hearst Corp. v Clyne, 50 N.Y.2d 707, 714; see also, Matter of Shelton, 123 A.D.2d 637). Further, contrary to the appellants' contention, the issue presented at bar, i.e., whether psychiatrists are capable of predicting a particular individual's potential future dangerousness, is not "sufficiently substantial or novel to warrant [review]" (Matter of David C., 69 N.Y.2d 796, 798). Bracken, J.P., Lawrence, Kunzeman and Spatt, JJ., concur.