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Forum: In the News
Thread (Discussion): [San Mateo County Times] 'I forgot' not a defense for sex offender's failing to register
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Message 139328 (In Reply to Message 139327)
Posted by steve
on Sep 01, 2004 02:34 PM | Also by steve
| Gender: Male,
Age Bracket: 30 - 39,
State: Virginia,
Country: United States |
"I forgot" isn't a good enough reason to keep a sex offender out of prison for failing to register with law enforcement officials, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.
That's logical. "I forgot" or "I didn't know" would just about cover any law that was broken.
The decision means Donald Faye Barker, 54, who was convicted of raping or attempting to rape three elderly women in Redwood City in 1979, will have to serve his nine-year sentence for failing to inform authorities in 2000 of his address and vehicle registration, as sex offenders are required to do annually.
The sentence seems harsh to me, given the circumstances. He had been registered as required for several years until 2000. Then he was apparently contacted the next day, registered and was arrested. I think that those who willfully evade registration requirements, go into hiding, etc. should get harsh penalties, but penalties for situations like Barker's (at least as described in the article) should result in less severe penalties.
"We do not believe the Legislature intended that a defendant could successfully evade this duty by claiming 'I totally forgot about that,'" Justice Janice Brown wrote for the 6-1 majority.
Brown wrote that to overturn Barker's prison sentence would be to invite all sex offenders who fail to register make similar "I forgot" pleas.
For some reason, when I read the text above it's hard not to smile.
In case the other article is removed, here's a 2nd article about the decisions.
Forgetting is ruled no excuse Sex offenders who blank out face '3-strikes'
SFGate.com
August 31, 2004
By Bob Egelko
| See an abbreviation or acronym, but don't know what it stands for? Consult
the Glossary. |
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Message 139327
Introduction
Posted by admin
on Sep 01, 2004 10:27 AM | Also by admin
Thread
139327, admin, Sep 01, 2004 10:27 AM [Introduction]
139328, steve, Sep 01, 2004 02:34 PM
139342, orolan, Sep 02, 2004 12:52 AM
139344, dp1, Sep 02, 2004 02:37 AM
139363, orolan, Sep 02, 2004 05:09 PM
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