State v. Halloran

141 A.3d 1216, 446 N.J. Super. 381, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 198
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedAugust 29, 2014
StatusPublished

This text of 141 A.3d 1216 (State v. Halloran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Halloran, 141 A.3d 1216, 446 N.J. Super. 381, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 198 (N.J. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

WEISENBECK, A.J.S.C. (retired).

This de minimis application implicates the issue of whether, under Megan’s Law, a sex offender is obligated to register more than one residence. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, the Court concludes that a secondary residence must be registered and that a failure to do so is not a de minimis violation.

I. Background and Procedural History

On February 28,1992, defendant was convicted of five counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault and five counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child. On October 9,1992, defendant was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Department of Corrections [384]*384with a period of parole ineligibility of ten years and an additional fifteen years of custody consecutive to the original twenty years. On January 29, 2011, defendant was released from custody.

On September 13, 2010, defendant registered 6 Bunn Road, Hamburg, New Jersey, as his future residence with the Department of Corrections. Defendant never registered his Hamburg residence with local law enforcement.

On February 2, 2011, defendant registered with the Roxbury Police Department and advised that he was residing at the Rox-bury Motel. On February 3, 2011, defendant’s registering officer confirmed that defendant was residing at the Roxbury Motel. On February 7, 2011, defendant cheeked out of the Roxbury Motel and did not leave a forwarding address. By March 16, 2011, defendant had moved back into the Roxbury Motel and informed Detective Adam DelGuercio of the Roxbury Township Police Department of said move. On March 16, 2011, DelGuercio informed defendant that there was an arrest warrant for him. On March 16, 2011, defendant was transported to the Morris County Correctional facility in lieu of bail. Defendant was registered at the facility.

Defendant was charged with Failing to Notify Law Enforcement of a Change of Residence, to which he pled guilty on June 11, 2011. Defendant’s plea agreement called for the State to recommend a period of probation supervision conditioned on his serving sixty days in the Morris County Correctional Facility. On September 9, 2011, defendant was sentenced to one year of probation supervision with thirty days in the Morris County Correctional facility. Defendant registered 1150 Route 46, Ledge-wood (Roxbury Township), New Jersey as his residence. On September 28, 2011, he was released from jail.

When registering and reregistering his residence, defendant acknowledged and signed his N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 registration form, which reads in pertinent part:

In accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1, you are required to re-register with the local police department in the town in which you reside and the [385]*385town in which you will be moving to every time you relocate to an address that is different from the one listed on your previous registration. This must be done 10 days befm'e you re-locate. You must also re-register with your local police department either every 90 days or annually, as provided by law. If you are employed at a school, attend a school, or carry on a vocation, you must register with law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over that community. Failure to comply with these requirements will subject you to penalties as set forth in the statute....

Each time defendant registered an address, he also initialed paragraph 3 of the “Registration/Re-Registration/Address Verification Form,” which says:

I understand that if I move, I must notify the local police department where I am registered, and the police department where I intend to live, at least 10 days before I move. I must then re-register in my new town. Verification of that address is due the year after the re-registration date. I understand that if I move out of New Jersey and then move back to New Jersey, I must re-register within 10 days of returning to this State with the local law enforcement agency in the town where I live. I understand that if I move to another State, I will be subject to any and all laws governing sex offender registration procedures in that State.

On or about September 26, 2011, Lori Crane, defendant’s girlfriend, informed Corporal Russell Hatzel of the Mount Olive Police Department that defendant was living in Crane’s residence in Budd Lake, New Jersey. On September 29, 2011, Officer Barrier of the Mount Olive Police Department observed defendant leaving the Budd Lake Post Office with Crane and heading towards her home.

On September 30, 2011, defendant called and spoke to Hatzel and set up an appointment at the police station on October 3, 2011. Also during the call, defendant admitted to Hatzel that he had stayed at Crane’s home on September 28, 2011. On October 3, 2011, defendant informed Hatzel that he had been staying at Crane’s home on-and-off for some time, before admitting that he had been living at Crane’s residence since August 22, 2011. Crane confirmed that defendant had been residing at her home since August 22, 2011.

On October 20, 2011, a grand jury indicted defendant on two counts: (1) Failure to Register within the statutorily required period of time between August 22, 2011, and October 3, 2011, in [386]*386violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(a)(3), a crime of the third degree; and (2) Failure to Advise of Use of Internet in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(d)(2), a crime of the fourth degree.

II. Standard of Review

The present motion is governed by N.J.S.A. 2C:2-11, which allows for dismissal of the prosecution as a de minimis infraction. It reads as follows:

The assignment judge may dismiss a prosecution if, having regard to the nature of the conduct charged to constitute an offense and the nature of the attendant circumstances, it finds that the defendant’s conduct:
a. Was within a customary license or tolerance, neither expressly negated by the person whose interest was infringed nor inconsistent with the purpose of the law defining the offense;
b. Did not actually cause or threaten the harm or evil sought to be prevented by the law defining the offense or did so only to an extent too trivial to warrant the condemnation of conviction; or
c. Presents such other extenuations that it cannot reasonably be regarded as envisaged by the Legislature in forbidding the offense. The assignment judge shall not dismiss a prosecution under this section without giving the prosecutor notice and an opportunity to be heard. The prosecutor shall have a right to appeal any such dismissal.
[W./.S.A 2C:2-11 (emphasis added).]

For purposes of a de minimis motion, the Assignment Judge must assume that the conduct charged actually took place and evaluate only whether the offense is too trivial to warrant prosecution. See State v. Brown, 188 N.J.Super. 656, 671, 458 A.2d 165 (Law Div.1983); see also State v. Evans, 340 N.J.Super. 244, 249, 774 A.2d 539 (App.Div.2001).

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Bluebook (online)
141 A.3d 1216, 446 N.J. Super. 381, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-halloran-njsuperctappdiv-2014.