People v. Lopez

140 P.3d 106, 2005 WL 3211641
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 14, 2006
Docket03CA0241
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 140 P.3d 106 (People v. Lopez) 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
People v. Lopez, 140 P.3d 106, 2005 WL 3211641 (Colo. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

ROTHENBERG, J.

Defendant, Jonathan W. Lopez, appeals from the judgment entered upon the eighteen-month sentence imposed following a jury verdict finding him guilty of failure to register as a sex offender, second offense. He also appeals the eighteen-month sentence imposed. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

The salient facts are undisputed. In July 2001, Lopez registered as a sex offender with the Montrose County Sheriffs Office. He was informed he would need to register again on or about October 18, 2001, pursuant to the registration statute then in effect.

From August 23 to November 19, 2001, Lopez was serving a ninety-day jail term. While he was incarcerated, he attempted to register as a sex offender, but was informed by agents of the Montrose County Sheriffs Office that they did not allow anyone to register as a sex offender while incarcerated because “it is just ... extra paperwork.” He also did not register upon his release, although he claimed he attempted to do so.

I. Constitutional Challenge

Lopez first contends § 18-3-412.5, C.R.S.2005, which requires him to register quarterly as a sex offender, is unconstitutional on its face and as applied because it violates the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto legislation. The People maintain that he failed to raise this issue in the trial court, and in any event, his argument has been rejected by the United States Supreme Court, by other divisions of this court, and by numerous federal and state courts presented with the issue. See Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84, 123 S.Ct. 1140, 155 L.Ed.2d 164 (2003); People v. Stead, 66 P.3d 117 (Colo.App.2002); [108]*108Jamison v. People, 988 P.2d 177 (Colo.App.1999); see also Kellar v. Fayetteville Police Dep’t, 339 Ark. 274, 281-82, 5 S.W.3d 402, 406 (1999)(observing that “the vast number of federal and state courts confronted with the issue of the validity of sex-offender registration statutes have found the laws constitutional,” and listing cases).

We conclude the issue was not properly raised and therefore do not address it.

II. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Lopez contends he is entitled to a judgment of acquittal because he was incarcerated on the date charged in the information and could not register, but the jury was permitted to find him guilty of failure to register as a sex offender based on conduct occurring on a day other than that charged in the information. The People admit Lopez was incarcerated and unable to register on or about the date charged in the information. However, they contend that the offense of failure to register as a sex offender is a “continuing offense,” and because there was evidence Lopez failed to register upon his release from jail, the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction. We agree with the People that failure to register as a sex offender is a continuing offense and that Lopez is not entitled to acquittal. However, for the reasons discussed below, we order a new trial.

In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a guilty verdict, a reviewing court must determine whether any rational trier of fact might accept the evidence, taken as a whole and in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as sufficient to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In applying this standard, we must give the prosecution the benefit of every reasonable inference that might fairly be drawn from the evidence. Kogan v. People, 756 P.2d 945 (Colo.1988).

In Toussie v. United States, 397 U.S. 112, 134-35, 90 S.Ct. 858, 870-71, 25 L.Ed.2d 156 (1970), Justice White explained the continuing offense doctrine:

The “continuing offense” is hardly a stranger to American jurisprudence. The concept has been extended to embrace such crimes as embezzlement, conspiracy, bigamy, nuisance, failure to provide support, repeated failure to file reports, failure to register under the Alien Registration Act, failure to notify the local [draft] board of a change in address, and, until [the announcement of this decision], failure to register for the draft. Since the continuing-offense concept too freely applied can lead to tension with the purposes of a statute of limitations, we should undoubtedly approach the task of statutory interpretation with “a presumption against a finding that an offense is a continuing one.”

(Footnote omitted; quoting Model Penal Code § 1.07 cmt. (Tent. Draft No. 5, 1956).) See United States v. Martinez, 890 F.2d 1088, 1091 (10th Cir.1989)(concluding offense of failure to appear under 18 U.S.C. § 3146 is a continuing one based on “the nature of the failure to appear offense and the legislative history”).

Determining whether a particular violation of law constitutes a continuing offense is primarily a question of-statutory interpretation. Toussie v. United States, supra, 397 U.S. at 134-35, 90 S.Ct. at 870-71.

All six jurisdictions we have found that have addressed the issue whether the failure to register as a sex offender is a continuing offense have held that it is. See State v. Goldberg, 819 So.2d 123 (Ala.Crim.App.2001); State v. Hawkins, 39 P.3d 1126 (Alaska Ct.App.2002); State v. Helmer, 203 Ariz. 309, 53 P.3d 1153 (Ariz.Ct.App.2002); Wright v. Superior Court, 15 Cal.4th 521, 63 Cal.Rptr.2d 322, 936 P.2d 101 (1997); State v. Morse, 54 N.J. 32, 35, 252 A.2d 723, 725 (1969)(clarify-ing that “only one conviction may be had with respect to one continuous failure to comply with [the statute]”).

The rationale in these cases is very similar. As the court explained in State v. Goldberg, supra, 819 So.2d at 127:

Clearly, the Legislature has concluded that sex offenders pose a continuous threat to society. It has also concluded that a registry is necessary to continually monitor their whereabouts for the protection of the public. Therefore, it must have intended [109]*109for a violation of [Alabama’s sex offender registration statute] to constitute a continuing offense.

The court added:

A defendant does not commit the crime only at the particular moment the obligation arises, but every day it remains unsatisfied. Given the persistent and palpable threat to society sex offenders represent, “the nature of the crime involved is such that [the Legislature] must assuredly have intended that it be treated as a continuing one.”

State v. Goldberg, supra, 819 So.2d at 129 (quoting Toussie, supra, 397 U.S. at 115, 90 S.Ct. at 860).

We agree with the analyses of these cases and reach the same result. In Colorado, as in the other states, offenders are under a continuing obligation to register. The statute applicable to Lopez requires that he register quarterly and notify authorities of any change of address.

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Bluebook (online)
140 P.3d 106, 2005 WL 3211641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lopez-coloctapp-2006.