The California Court of Appeals recently ruled that the defendant in a sex crimes case did not unlawfully fail to register as a sex offender because the least adjudicated elements of her Kentucky offense did not amount to a registrable offense in California.
In In re Rodden, 2010 D.A.R. 8428, the Petitioner was charged with failing to register as a sex offender in California. The Petitioner was convicted in Kentucky for the sex crime of facilitating sodomy. The Petitioner was put on probation and did not have to register as a sex offender in Kentucky. The Petitioner then moved to California where she did not register as a sex offender.
In California, an out-of-state conviction requires a defendant to register as a sex offender in California only when the least adjudicated elements of the offense satisfy all of the elements of a crime enumerated in subdivision (c) of section 290 or when the foreign jurisdiction required the defendant to register as a sex offender.
Here, the trial court found that the Kentucky crime was comparable to California Penal Code Section 266j. Section 266j provides: “Any person who intentionally gives, transports, provides, or makes available, or who offers to give, transport, provide, or make available to another person, a child under the age of 16 for the purpose of any lewd or lascivious act as defined in Section 288, or who causes, induces, or persuades a child under the age of 16 to engage in such an act with another person, is guilty of a felony . . . .” Based on the trial court’s determination that the Kentucky crime was comparable to a California crime, the petitioner entered a plea of guilty.
On appeal, the court found that the Kentucky crime was not comparable to the California crime. The Kentucky crime did not satisfy all of the elements under California Penal Code 266j. The Petitioner was not required to register as a Sex Offender in Kentucky. Therefore, the Petitioner’s guilty plea was vacated.
This case illustrates the importance of having an experienced Los Angeles sex crimes attorney on your side. If you were convicted of a sex crime in another state, it is not an automatic requirement that you must register in California. It is critical that you speak with an experienced sex crimes attorney who can go through each elements of the crime you were convicted of and compare it to a California crime.
At Wallin & Klarich, our Southern California sex crime attorneys have over 30 years of experience. We have defending all types of sex crimes and we can help you. Call us today at (888) 280-6839 or contact us through our website at www.wksexcrimes.com. We will be there when you call.