Peo in Int of C.M.D

2018 COA 172
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 13, 2018
Docket16CA0385
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2018 COA 172 (Peo in Int of C.M.D) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peo in Int of C.M.D, 2018 COA 172 (Colo. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

The summaries of the Colorado Court of Appeals published opinions constitute no part of the opinion of the division but have been prepared by the division for the convenience of the reader. The summaries may not be cited or relied upon as they are not the official language of the division. Any discrepancy between the language in the summary and in the opinion should be resolved in favor of the language in the opinion.

SUMMARY December 13, 2018

2018COA172

No. 16CA0385, Peo in Int of C.M.D. — Criminal Law — Sex Offender Registration — Petition for Removal from Registry; Constitutional Law — Eighth Amendment — Cruel and Unusual Punishments — Fourteenth Amendment — Due Process

In this juvenile sex offender case, a division of the court of

appeals holds that the provisions of the Colorado Sex Offender

Registration Act, §§ 16-22-103(2)(a) and -113(3)(c), C.R.S. 2018,

requiring lifetime sex offender registration for juveniles who have

committed more than one sex offense do not violate due process or

constitute cruel and unusual punishment as applied to such

juveniles. COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS 2018COA172

Court of Appeals No. 16CA0385 Mesa County District Court No. 15JD140 Honorable Thomas M. Deister, Judge Honorable William T. McNulty, Magistrate

The People of the State of Colorado,

Petitioner-Appellee,

In the Interest of C.M.D.,

Juvenile-Appellant.

ORDER AFFIRMED

Division II Opinion by JUDGE VOGT* Dailey and Lichtenstein, JJ., concur

Announced December 13, 2018

Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General, Joseph G. Michaels, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Petitioner-Appellee

Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Ryann S. Hardman, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Juvenile-Appellant

*Sitting by assignment of the Chief Justice under provisions of Colo. Const. art. VI, § 5(3), and § 24-51-1105, C.R.S. 2018. ¶1 C.M.D. was adjudicated delinquent based on an incident

involving unlawful sexual contact. At sentencing, he was ordered to

register as a sex offender under the Colorado Sex Offender

Registration Act (CSORA), §§ 16-22-101 to -115, C.R.S. 2018.

Because C.M.D. had a previous adjudication for unlawful sexual

contact, the magistrate was statutorily precluded from waiving the

registration requirement, and C.M.D. is not eligible to petition to

discontinue the registration.

¶2 On appeal, C.M.D. contends that, as applied to him and

similarly situated juveniles, the CSORA violates constitutional

prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment and

constitutional due process rights. Under the circumstances of this

case, we disagree. We therefore affirm the order requiring C.M.D. to

register as a sex offender.

I. Background

¶3 At the time of the incident giving rise to the order, C.M.D. was

serving a sentence in the Department of Youth Corrections (DYC)

based on prior adjudications, one of which was also for unlawful

sexual contact. Although the incident was reported to have

occurred when C.M.D. was seventeen and a half years old, the

1 petition in delinquency was not filed until one year later, when

C.M.D. was eighteen and a half.

¶4 The petition alleged that C.M.D. had committed unlawful

sexual contact against another DYC resident, who was then

seventeen. C.M.D. had reported the incident to his case manager,

stating that he “grabbed a girl’s ass” and that he did it because he

“felt aroused and couldn’t help himself.” The victim told law

enforcement personnel that she had been in a transport van with

C.M.D. and another girl on the way to court appearances. In the

elevator at the courthouse, she felt C.M.D.’s hand brush her

bottom, but was not sure if it was intentional. She then said that

[w]hen they were leaving court getting ready to get back in the transport van, she did not want to sit next to C.M.D. . . . [H]e kept touching her back throughout the drive.

She told him to stop several times and he did not stop. He was only touching her back at this point, but this made her mad and uncomfortable.

When they arrived back at DYC . . . C.M.D. scooted closer to [her], [and] grabbed her butt two times.

¶5 The People filed a petition in delinquency alleging that C.M.D.

had committed an act which, if committed by an adult, would

2 constitute misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact under section 18-

3-404(1)(a), C.R.S. 2018. In exchange for dismissal of the charge,

C.M.D. pleaded guilty to third degree assault, § 18-3-204(1)(a),

C.R.S. 2018, with an underlying factual basis of unlawful sexual

contact. The court sentenced C.M.D. to up to six months in the

custody of the DYC, the sentence to run concurrent with his

sentences in four other cases. C.M.D. acknowledged at the plea

hearing that he knew he would be required to register as a sex

offender.

¶6 As noted, this was not C.M.D.’s first adjudication for an

offense with an underlying factual basis of unlawful sexual contact.

He had previously been adjudicated for sexually assaulting his

sister over the course of three to five years, beginning when she was

approximately four years old and he was approximately six years

old. The conduct giving rise to the adjudication included forced oral

sex, digital penetration of the vagina, and attempted penile-vaginal

intercourse. At sentencing in this case, the magistrate noted that

he had no discretion to decline to impose the sex offender

registration requirement, and then commented:

3 Even if I’d had discretion, I would feel somewhat conflicted about not requiring [C.M.D.] to register. . . . [C]onsidering some of the factors if I were allowed to under [section 16-22-103(5)(a)], considering that, certainly lifetime registration would seem unfairly punitive under these circumstances.

But, it’s not the adjudication for this offense that makes it unfairly – that makes it lifetime. It’s the – of course, the existence of the other offense. But, the risk to the community may require that registration. And so, if I had that discretion, I’m not sure that I would actually go – and exercise that discretion.

¶7 C.M.D. petitioned for district court review of the magistrate’s

order, arguing, among other things, that requiring him to register

as a sex offender amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The

district court disagreed, citing cases holding that the requirement to

register is not punishment, and adding:

However, even if the requirement to register were punishment, such a requirement here would neither be unfairly punitive nor cruel and unusual because of the Juvenile’s prior adjudication for unlawful sexual behavior. With two adjudications for this type of behavior, community safety requires registration. Such conclusion is necessary because the statute specifically permits the exception for only someone who has no prior for this type of behavior.

4 II. Cruel and Unusual Punishment

¶8 C.M.D. contends that mandatory, lifetime sex offender

registration under CSORA violates federal and state constitutional

prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, as applied to

him and similarly situated juveniles. We disagree.

A. Standard of Review

¶9 We review the constitutionality of a statute de novo. See

People v. Sabell, 2018 COA 85, ¶ 46. Statutes are presumed to be

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2018 COA 172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peo-in-int-of-cmd-coloctapp-2018.