Martin v. State

252 S.W.3d 809, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2997, 2008 WL 1835428
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 25, 2008
Docket06-06-00234-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 252 S.W.3d 809 (Martin v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. State, 252 S.W.3d 809, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2997, 2008 WL 1835428 (Tex. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Chief Justice MORRISS.

On March 24, 2004, as required and as he had done each year since 2000, Michael James Martin, a sex offender, 1 reported to the Wood County Sheriffs Department to fulfill his annual verification requirement. He was given what was labeled a “Sex Offender Update Form.” Martin was asked if anything had changed from the previous year. The staff member who dealt with Martin that day testified that Martin indicated there had been no changes, so she left blank the middle part of the 2004 form, including information about Martin’s employment, and directed Martin to sign the form in that condition.

In April 2006, Martin was indicted for, on or about March 24, 2004, “intentionally, knowingly and recklessly failfing] to verify the information in the registration form received by the Wood County Sheriff’s Department as complete and accurate, to-wit: failing to report a change of employment.” See Tex.Code Ceim. PROC. Ann. art. 62.10. 2 The jury found Martin guilty, the trial court sentenced him to ten years’ confinement, and this appeal followed. 3

We reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case for further proceedings because — although (1) Martin’s multifarious point of error assailing the jury charge fails and (2) the evidence is legally sufficient to support Martin’s conviction — (3) the evidence is factually insufficient to support Martin’s conviction.

The Sex-Offender Registration Program

Sex offenders falling within the scope of the registration requirements must complete what is known as a sex-offender registration form. The Sex Offender Registration Program (SORP) provides that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will provide a registration form to local law *812 enforcement authorities, among others, and outlines when and how the registration form should be completed on release of a sex offender subject to registration. See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 62.02.

A substantial amount of information is required by the sex offender registration form:

(1) the person’s full name, each alias, date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, eye color, hair color, social security number, driver’s license number, shoe size, and home address;
(2) a recent color photograph or, if possible, an electronic digital image of the person and a complete set of fingerprints;
(3) the type of offense the person was convicted of, the age of the victim, the date of conviction, and the punishment received;
(4) an indication as to whether the person is discharged, paroled, or released on juvenile probation, community supervision, or mandatory supervision;
(5) an indication of each license ... that is held or sought by the person;
(6) an indication as to whether the person is or will be employed, carrying on a vocation, or a student at a particular public or private institution of higher education in this state or another state, and the name and address of that institution; and
(7) any other information required by the department.

Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 62.02(b).

Failure of a sex offender to comply with any requirement of Chapter 62 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure is a felony. See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 62.10. As charged against Martin, the failure is a third-degree felony.

The requirement Martin has been convicted of failing to meet is his annual obligation to “verify the information in the registration form maintained by the [local law enforcement] authority for” Martin, specifically, information reporting his change in employment. See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 62.06.

As applicable to Martin, Article 62.06 sets out a specific procedure to be used to allow Martin to verify his required data, which includes his employment. Paragraph (a) of that article effectively requires Martin to report to the Wood County Sheriffs Department once each year, within thirty days before or after his birthday — March 29 — “to verify the information in the registration form maintained by” that office for Martin. See id. Paragraph (c) requires the officials to get from Martin proof of his identity and residence before giving him “the registration form ... for verification.” See Tex.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 62.06(c).

If the information in the registration form is complete and accurate, the [registrant] shall verify registration by signing the form. If the information is not complete or not accurate, the [registrant] shall make any necessary additions or corrections before signing the form.

See id. The statutory scheme thus contemplates that sex-offender registrants will.be given the registration form, presumably containing the latest information on file with the State, and that the registrant will be given the chance to approve or further update the information, so that the form will reflect correct information before he or she signs it, thus “verifying] the information in the registration form.”

In this case, the State has chosen to modify that contemplated procedure by requiring Martin to verify his information annually using an “update form” rather than a “registration form.” The center or main portion of the update form — see State’s Exhibits 4, 5, and 6 and Defense Exhibits 3, 4, 5, and 6 — has consistently, *813 from 2000 through 2005, called for the registrant’s (1) “driver license” number, state, and type; (2) “ID# ” and state; (3) “address” (with direction that it include “Physical address, city and zip code”) and whether that address is urban or rural; (4) “Telephone #”; (5) “License Plate No.” and state; (6) “Vehicle Make,” model, year, and color; (7) “Occupational License # ” and authority; and (8) “Occupation,” name of employer, and city or town of employer. With the possible exception of the fact that the form calls itself an “update form,” the update form says nothing to the effect that the information in those blanks indicates a change from the original registration form or from any previous update form. The language of the form requests the data, simply and unconditionally; the form’s request is not conditioned on there being a change in previously reported data. The form warns the registrant that he or she is “required to verify your registration” and that failure to do so will result in criminal penalties being exacted.

There is no evidence that any version of the actual registration form was used in this case, except that in 2000 the initial registration form was generated. Martin’s annual verification was done each year using only update forms.

(1) Martin’s Multifarious Point of Error Assailing the Jury Charge Fails

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Bluebook (online)
252 S.W.3d 809, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 2997, 2008 WL 1835428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-state-texapp-2008.