Source: ACSOL
The Third District Court of Appeals in California issued a decision today stating that every person convicted of Penal Code (PC) Section 288.2, providing harmful material to a minor, must register for life including those whose felony conviction has been reduced to a misdemeanor. The Court based its opinion on an interpretation of PC Section 17(e) which states that judges cannot remove from the registry a person convicted of that offense.
“Today an appellate court made a bad decision,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “That bad decision will adversely affect every person whose felony conviction for violating PC Section 288.2 has been reduced to a misdemeanor.”
The appellate court decision issued today relied heavily upon two prior decisions — People v. Kennedy and People v. Manzoor — which both ruled in favor of the government. The plaintiffs in today’s case argued that the Kennedy case did not apply because it was decided prior to passage of the Tiered Registry Law and that the Manzoor case did not apply because it was based upon the decision in the Kennedy case.
According to today’s decision, the court stated that “a defendant convicted of a felony violation of section 288.2 is subject to lifetime registration.” The court added that “even though his felony conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor…section 17, subdivision (e) prohibits a court…from relieving him…of the duty to register as a sex offender….” The appellate decision issued today is not for publication.
“The appellate court decision strengthens the resolve of ACSOL to lobby the legislature next year to reduce from Tier 3, the highest tier, to Tier 1, the lowest tier, the tier assignments of every person convicted of PC Section 288.2,” stated Bellucci. “We will remind the legislature next year that the California Sex Offender Management Board has recommended this change to the Tiered Registry Law.”
Decision - June 2024
“…He notes there are six wobblers that are assigned by section 290 to different tiers depending on whether the conviction is for a felony or a misdemeanor. Five of the six wobblers are assigned to tier three…”
Does anyone know what the wobblers are?
I only ask for my conviction and my goal to obtain relief under PC 17.
more california government CORRUPTION… This time to so called ‘apellate court!!’
Wow, seems like double jeopardy, being retried and re sentenced for the same crime with no representation. Just sickening. Think of all the people that have rebuilt their lives, put their past behind them and have moved on and are doing good…then this. Just unreal, they don’t do this in communist China or Russia.
1128 but this Appelate decision isn’t even researched just fear mongering along with…Robert’s famous las* words…high and frightening …price club application
Wow. You get less punishment for giving cigarettes or booze to a minor….
There is NO reason for the court to not publish the opinion in a situation such as this. There better be some d**n good reasons why they feel it is not to be published. Sue the b******s to publish it. The public has a right to know.
But how come the court didn’t at least agree to a lower tier in stead of being on tier 3.
The game was rigged, but it’s not the judges fault they came to this conclusion that the reduction to a misdemeanor cannot relieve one from the registry.
History.
In 1958, Kelly v Municipal stated that one can be relieved from the duty to register via 1203.4 because the registry was deemed punishment. The courts had the authority to relieve one from registering automatically.
Then in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s is when CA created second class citizens by trampling on sex crime defendants. 1203.4’s benefits were stripped from sex crime defendants via 290.007 and Sec 17(e) ensured the only way off the registry was through the 1203.4 AND the Certificate of Rehabilitation, if one qualified for it. These acts made the registry more powerful than the court as the new laws trampled over existing contracts and/or not treating a class of citizens equally (equal immunity/benefits).
Note: 1203.4 states you are no longer convicted and your info no longer public, but the registry will identify your conviction publicly after earning 1203.4. From 1203.4: “the court shall set aside the verdict of guilty; and the court shall thereupon dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant ”
Now that we have established the only way off the registry is through the registry and not the court, we can better understand this ruling and how the game was rigged.
Since the only way off the registry is only through the registry, every argument is futile. The only way to avoid the registry with a sex crime is for the laws to cite it is not eligible for the registry like 261.5 (unlawful sex with a minor) or a 288.2 misdemeanor at sentencing. Unfortunately, a felony 288.2 puts a defendant onto the registry. Getting a reduction to a misdemeanor means nothing due to 17(e) because one is already on the registry. (Similar to 1203.4, you earned the 1203.4 and it means nothing to the registry.) The appeals court got the judgment correct based upon the rigged rules.
The problem now lies in the law for SB-384. SB-384 forgot about 288.2 felony wobblers who earn a misdemeanor. ACSOL has to amend SB-384 to either have 288.2 wobbler felony into misdemeanors become tier 1 or once one earns a wobbler felony into a misdemeanor, then that individual is immediately available to petition off the registry. That’s the most feasible way.
Another way is more tedious and magnanimous in scope as one will be attacking the initial wrongs in passing 290.007 and Sec 17(e), essentially making the registry align to the same level with the courts as it recognizes it has trampled over the civil rights of sex crime defendants by approving law that interferes with established law as well as creating second class citizens by excluding a sect of a class, eg all convicts except sex crime convicts.
Not surprising. The way the registry is written, there’s no wiggle room. Even if the initial conviction is a misdemeanor, it would still be tier 3.
The previously mentioned CARSOL recommendation to have all misdemeanors (original or 17b) be moved to tier 1 is really the only way to fix this.
Janice or anyone that specifically knows, could you give us the five penal codes the DOJ has confirmed to shift tiers due to the 17b reduction? They speak of this on the very last page of the above ruling. So far, I’ve only seen this be the case with 311.1 and 311.11. This would be of great value for people here to know. Thank you!
In the case’s of people vs Kennedy and people vs Manzoor the DA even recommended that the state should change legislation to fix this complex mistake made by the registry.
This all goes back to when Kamala Harris was AG and was trying to ban all people forced to register from using the internet, She came close but they eventually found it to be unconstitutional and that’s when the registry laws started changing for the worse.
They started going after all sex crimes that involve the internet and made them all Tier 3 offenses.
I really don’t know how to feel about the whole registry situation anymore, I was placed on the registry when I was 17 I’m old now I just wanna be able to at least die in peace.
good luck to all 😎👌
If the State of California is willing to use pseudo science like the Static 99R to label people as Tier 3, then things like this should not be surprising.
Our alleged “government” does NOT care. America is full of corruption.
Every day gets a little darker than the last…
The second the tier system was implemented I wondered how long it would take before they found ways around it.