State v. Briggs

2008 UT 83, 199 P.3d 935, 619 Utah Adv. Rep. 5, 2008 Utah LEXIS 194, 2008 WL 5191446
Utah Supreme Court·Decided December 12, 2008·No. 20060671·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinions

On Certification from the Utah Court of Appeals

DURRANT, Associate Chief Justice:

INTRODUCTION

1 1 Steven Arthur Briggs was convicted for failure to register as a sex offender in violation of Utah Code section 77-27-21.5 ("registration statute" or "statute").1 Briggs chal[938] lenges the constitutionality of the statute and the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. First, Briggs argues that the statute violates the non-delegation doctrine of the Utah Constitution because it delegates legislative power to the Department of Corrections ("DOC"), an executive agency. Second, Briggs argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support a conviction that he "knowingly" failed to register. Finally, Briggs argues that the statute violates his right to procedural due process because it designates him as a currently dangerous sex offender without notice and an opportunity to be heard on the validity of that designation. We conclude that Briggs's non-delegation and insufficiency of the evidence claims are without merit. As to Briggs's procedural due process argument, we hold that the provisions of the registration statute requiring him to register and requiring the DOC to publish information related to his prior convictions, current address, appearance, and other similar information do not violate his right to procedural due process. Thus, we affirm his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender. However, we hold that the provision in the registration statute that requires the DOC to publish his primary and secondary targets, implying that he is currently dangerous, violates his right to procedural due process unless the DOC provides him with notice and an opportunity to be heard as to whether he is currently dangerous. Accordingly, the DOC may not publish information implying that Briggs is currently dangerous unless it proves as much at a hearing where Briggs has notice and an opportunity to be heard on the validity of that designation.

BACKGROUND

T2 In 1986, Briggs was convicted of sexual abuse of a child and served fifteen years in prison. A few days prior to Briggs's release from prison in 2002, a DOC officer presented him with a form that included Briggs's physical description, previous address, information on his conviction, and scheduled release date. The form that Briggs was presented with provides, in large print at its center,

I have been notified of my responsibility to register as a sex offender as required by Utah Code Annotated 77-27-21.5. I have also been notified of my continuing responsibility to annually register with the Utah State Department of Corrections and again within 10 days of every change of my place of habitation.

T3 The DOC officer requested that Briggs sign the form, but Briggs refused. An investigator with the DOC, Agent Pepper, then met with Briggs to read and explain the form to him. Agent Pepper explained to Briggs that he needed to sign the form and that it was against the law to refuse to sign it. Briggs replied, "You'll have to file charges against me if you can find me." After steadfastly refusing to sign the form, Briggs was sent back to his housing unit. Agent Pepper noted on the registration form "Refused to sign @ 0820 hrs."

T4 At the time of his scheduled release, Briggs was again given an opportunity to sign the form, but he again refused. Agent Pepper filed a case against Briggs, charging him with failure to register as a sex offender, and Briggs was taken from the prison directly to Salt Lake County Jail. The charge was dismissed on motion of the district attorney, who reasoned that signing the sex offender registration form is not a requirement of the registration statute or an element of failure to register as a sex offender. Briggs was released.

T5 After his release, Briggs moved to a Salt Lake City hostel and then, a month later, moved to a second Salt Lake City address where he has lived since. There is no indication that Briggs was hiding his whereabouts from the DOC; in fact, he included his first address in a letter he sent to the DOC Department of Adult Probation and Parole to inquire about property he lost when he was first incarcerated. Additional ly, Briggs spoke with and gave his name to a DOC officer who contacted him at his residence and to police officers who visited him [939] at his residence while investigating neighborhood crimes. During this period of time, Briggs was under the impression that he was registered as a sex offender because his attorney showed him his profile on the registry website during an office visit. However, the registry lacked his current address information, a statutory registration requirement.2

T 6 In May 2005, Briggs came to the attention of an FBI agent, who, after an investigation, determined that Briggs was not registered as required by the statute. The FBI agent contacted the DOC and verified that, although Briggs was supposed to register, he was not registered at that time. The agent located Briggs at his residence using a sub-seription database and arrested him for failure to register as a sex offender.

{7 At the bench trial, Briggs moved the court to declare the registration statute unconstitutional. He asserted that the statute is unconstitutional because it violates the non-delegation doctrine of the Utah Constitution, violates his right to procedural due process, and is an ex post facto law.

18 The trial court denied the motion in a memorandum decision. As for Briggs's non-delegation claim, the court ruled that the DOC

has not been given the authority to determine if failure to register will constitute criminal behavior, or even what must be disclosed to the [DOC], and the [DOC] does not have the authority to determine the penalty for violation.... The [DOC] is charged simply with the task of setting up the procedures for registration to ensure that the process of registration is orderly.

The trial court, therefore, held that the registration statute does not violate the non-delegation doctrine of the Utah Constitution.

T9 As to Briggs's procedural due process claim, the trial court held that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe "already ruled that Utah's and other similar states' sex offender registration requirements do not violate federal due process requirements."3 It further held that "Defendant must show that Utah's Constitution affords him greater protections than does the U.S. Constitution," and that it was "not persuaded that Defendant's procedural due process rights in the present cireumstance are greater under the Utah Constitution than they are under the U.S. Constitution." The trial court dismissed Briggs's ex post facto claim using the same reasoning, holding "that Defendant has not presented any reason why Utah would afford greater ex post facto protections than the federal Constitution."

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State v. Briggs, 2008 UT 83, 199 P.3d 935, 619 Utah Adv. Rep. 5, 2008 Utah LEXIS 194, 2008 WL 5191446 (Utah 2008).

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