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Thursday, December 27, 2007
Ind. Decisions - "Court says registry violated offender's constitutional rights"
The Indiana Court of Appeals 2-1 opinion yesterday in Todd L. Jensen v. State of Indiana (See ILB entry immediately below, or check here) is the subject of an AP story published by a number of papers today. Some quotes:
A legal change that forced a convicted sex offender to register for life as a sexually violent predator even though he was not originally determined to be one violated his constitutional protection against retroactive laws, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled today.The law was amended to require lifetime registration for certain offenses in 2006, two years after Todd L. Jensen was released from probation. Applying that requirement to Jensen violated prohibitions against ex post facto laws in the state and federal constitutions, the court said in a 2-1 ruling.
The ruling, which reversed a lower court decision, said that the retroactive lifetime registration requirement violated the constitution "as applied to him." It was not immediately clear whether the ruling might have wider impact. * * *
When Jensen was sentenced, the law required consultation with two experts to determine if someone was a predator who might be a repeat offender. The General Assembly later changed the law so that anyone convicted of certain offenses was defined as a sexually violent predator. One of those offenses was vicarious sexual gratification.
"Therefore, the 2006 version of the statute has changed the elements or ultimate facts and evidence necessary to prove that a defendant is a sexually violent predator," the court found. "Consequently, the 2006 version, which the trial court clearly used at Jensen's status determination hearing, is ex post facto law as applied to him."
The Court of Appeals also noted that it had found that courts have the power to review sexually violent predator status if an offender violates probation - but Jensen had not done so.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Cale J. Bradford wrote that the lifetime registration requirement did not violate the clause against retroactive laws because it was intended to monitor the whereabouts of the offender, not as punishment.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 27, 2007 07:29 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions