Branch v. State

917 N.E.2d 1283, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 2659, 2009 WL 4876457
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided December 17, 2009·No. 82A04-0905-CR-265·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

Case Summary and Issue

Emmanuel Dwayne Branch challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for failing to register as a sex offender, a class D felony. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

On December 13, 2004, Branch was convicted of child abduction in St. Clair County, Illinois, and therefore is required under Indiana law to register as a sex offender. At the end of 2008, Branch came to Vanderburgh County, Indiana, and con[1284] tacted Vanderburgh County Deputy Sheriff Thomas Wedding. Deputy Wedding provided Branch with a sex offender registration form and suggested that Branch contact the United Caring Shelter in Evansville ("United Caring"), a shelter that accepts sex offenders. On December 1, 2008, Branch began residing at United Caring. On December 2, 2008, he completed the sex offender registration form and wrote down United Caring's address as his "Home Address." State's Ex. 1.

Branch resided at United Caring until December 11, 2008. Thereafter, Branch stayed different places, never staying more than four consecutive days in any one place. Branch did not report in person to inform Deputy Wedding of the change of his address. On January 13, 2009, Deputy Wedding was performing his annual verification check of the sex offender registry and learned that Branch was no longer residing at United Caring.

On January 14, 2009, the State charged Branch with class D felony failure to register as a sex offender. The trial court found Branch guilty as charged.

Discussion and Decision

Branch challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Our standard of review for such claims is well settled:

[Wle neither reweigh the evidence nor Judge the credibility of the witnesses, and we affirm if there is substantial evidence of probative value supporting each element of the crime from which a reasonable trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It is the job of the fact-finder to determine whether the evidence in a particular case sufficiently proves each element of an offense, and we consider conflicting evidence most favorably to the trial court's ruling.

Wright v. State, 828 N.E.2d 904, 906 (Ind.2005) (citations and quotation marks omitted).

Branch's claim implicates several statutory provisions. The State charged Branch as follows:

[O]n or about January 13, 2009, Emmanuel Branch, a sex offender by having been previously convicted of Child Abduction in St. Clair County, Illinois, ... did knowingly fail to register a change of address and/or change of employment as required under I.C. 11-8-8-11, contrary to the form of the statutes in such cases made and provided by I.C. 11-8-8-17(a)(L{.]

Appellant's App. at 8. Indiana Code Seetion 11-8-8-17(a)(1) provides that "[a] sex or violent offender who knowingly or intentionally ... fails to register when required to register under this chapter ... commits a Class D felony." Indiana Code Section 11-8-8-11(a) reads,

If a sex or violent offender who is required to register under this chapter changes:
(1) principal residence address;
[[Image here]]
the sex or violent offender shall report in person to the local law enforcement authority having jurisdiction over the sex or violent offender's eurrent principal address or location ... not more than seventy-two (72) hours after the address change.

"Principal residence" is defined as

the residence where a sex or violent offender spends the most time. The term includes a residence owned or [1285] leased by another person if the sex or violent offender:
(1) does not own or lease a residence; or
(2) spends more time at the residence owned or leased by the other person than at the residence owned or leased by the sex or violent offender.

Ind.Code § 11-8-8-3. Finally, " 'register' means to report in person to a local law enforcement authority and provide the information required under section 8 of this chapter." Ind.Code § 11-8-8-4.

Branch argues that in January 2009, he did not have a principal residence, and therefore the registration requirements of Indiana Code Section 11-8-8-11(a) are inapplicable. Instead, he argues, he was homeless and, as such, his registration requirements were governed by Indiana Code Section 11-8-8-12(c), under which he was not charged. See Addis v. State, 404 N.E.2d 59, 63-64 (Ind.Ct.App.1980) ("To permit a 'conviction upon a charge not made would be sheer denial of due process." ") (quoting Thompson v. City of Louisville, 362 U.S. 199, 206, 80 S.Ct. 624, 4 L.Ed.2d 654 (1960)); see also Ind.Code § 35-34-1-2 (requiring indictment or information to set forth "the nature and elements of the offense charged in plain and concise language").

Indiana Code Section 11-8-8-12 governs registration when the sex offender resides in a temporary residence or is homeless, and provides as follows:

(a) As used in this section, "temporary residence" means a residence:
(1) that is established to provide transitional housing for a person without another residence; and
(2) in which a person is not typically permitted to reside for more than thirty (80) days in a sixty (60) day period.
(b) This section applies only to a sex or violent offender who resides in a temporary residence. In addition to the other requirements of this chapter, a sex or violent offender who resides in a temporary residence shall register in person with the local law enforcement authority in which the temporary residence is located:
(1) not more than seventy-two (72) hours after the sex or violent offender moves into the temporary residence; and
(2) during the period in which the sex or violent offender resides in a temporary residence, at least once every seven (7) days following the sex or violent offender's initial registration under subdivision (1).
(ec) A sex or violent offender who does not have a principal residence or temporary residence shall report in person to the local law enforcement authority in the county where the sex or violent offender resides at least onee every seven (7) days to report an address for the location where the sex or violent offender will stay during the time in which the sex or violent offender lacks a principal address or temporary residence.[1]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Branch v. State, 917 N.E.2d 1283, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 2659, 2009 WL 4876457 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

917 N.E.2d 1283 (Branch v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Branch v. State
917 N.E.2d 1283 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2009)