State v. Lodge

176 So. 3d 612, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1849, 2015 WL 5604378
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 23, 2015
DocketNo. 2015-KA-0539
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 176 So. 3d 612 (State v. Lodge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Lodge, 176 So. 3d 612, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1849, 2015 WL 5604378 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

EDWIN A. LOMBARD, Judge.

Pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976), the defendant, Leroy Lodge, appeals his conviction for violating La. Rev. Stat. 15:542.1.4, Failure to Notify Change of Address as a Convicted Sex Offender. After review of the record in light of the applicable law and arguments of the parties, the defendant’s conviction is affirmed.

Relevant Facts and Procedural History.

The defendant was convicted in 1983 of forcible rape, a violation of La. Rev. Stat. 14:42.1. State v. Lodge, 447 So.2d 88 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984). He was sentenced to a twenty-year term of imprisonment but was released on parole in 1995, re-incarcerated in 1999 for a probation violation, and final[613]*613ly released in 2003. Upon release in 2003, the defendant registered as a sex offender pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 15:540, et seq., which in 2003 required only a ten-year registration period. The defendant continued to register until 2010 but, pursuant to an arrest warrant issued for violating the Sex Offender Registration Law, was arrested. on June 28, 2010 and charged by bill of information (docketed as case no. 502-192) with failing to register as a sex offender, a violation of La. Rev. Stat. 15:542. He was released on bond but, because he was not living at his registered address when hstate troopers performed a compliance check on April 26, 2011, a second arrest warrant was issued on May 18, 2011. Shortly thereafter, a second bill of information was filed (docketed as case no. 508-450, the case at issue in this appeal) charging the defendant with failing to provide notification of a change of address as a registered sex offender, as required by La. Rev. Stat. 15:542.1.2.

The. defendant filed a written motion to quash the bill of information in case no. 502-192. On December 14, 2011, the trial court adopted the motion to quash in case no. 502-192 for this case, no. 508-450, and quashed the bills of information in both cases. State v. Lodge, 2012-0734, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/8/13), 116 So.3d 851, 854. On appeal, this court reversed the trial court, holding that it was not a violation of the ex post facto clause to require the defendant to register in accordance with the current version of La. Rev. Stat. 15:542(B) and (C). Id., p. 9, 116 So.3d at 857. In addition, this court held that the trial court exceeded its discretion by applying the motion to quash filed in case no. 502-192 to this case, no. 508-450. Id., p. 10, 116 So.3d at 858 (citing La.Code Crim. Proc. art. 536 which requires a motion to quash to be in writing). Accordingly, on October 14, 2014, the defendant filed a written' motion to quash the bill of information in this case, no. 508-450, again asserting that the current requirement that sex offenders register for life violated the ex post facto clause.1 On October 24, 2014, after the trial court denied his motion to quash, the defendant entered a Crosby plea in both cases, reserving his right to appeal. He waived sentencing delays and was sentenced to serve two years at hard labor for each offense, to be served | .-¡concurrently. The defendant timely appeals his conviction in case no.' 508-450, for failing to notify authorities as to his change of address.2

Errors Patent Review

The record reveals no errors patent.

Assignment of Error on Appeal

The defendant- argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the'-bill of information-because the -registration requirement for sex offenders was not ⅛ existence at the time of his guilty plea in 1983 and, because it is punitive in nature, the registration requirement is a violation of the ex post facto clause.

Applicable Law

Article I, § 10 of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from passing ex post facto laws; Article I, § 23 of the Louisiana Constitution prohibits the enactment of ex post facto laws. See also State ex rel. Olivieri, 2000-0172, 2000-1767 [614]*614(La.2/21/01), 779 So.2d 735 (analyzing both clauses). Under the federal constitution, four categories of ex post facto laws have been identified: (1) a law making criminal, and subject to punishment, an activity which was innocent when originally done; (2) a law aggravating a crime or making it a greater-crime than it was when originally committed; (3) a law aggravating a crime’s punishment; and (4) a law altering the rules of evidence to require less or different testimony than was required at the time of the commission of the crime. Olivieri, 2000-0172, 2000-1767, p. 11, 779 So.2d at 742 (citation omitted). Thus, the focus of a federal ex post facto inquiry is whether a legislative change “alters the definition of |4criminal conduct or increases the penalty by which a crime is punishable.” Olivieri, 2000-0172, 2000-1767, p. 13, 779 So.2d at 743. Accordingly, “the operative factor in determining whether a law falls within the ambit of the ex post facto clause is whether the law can be considered ‘punishment’ or altered the definition of criminal conduct.” Id. The Louisiana Supreme Court adopted this analysis with regard to the state ex post facto clause, concluding Louisiana’s- sexual offender registration and notification statute “is not so obtrusive that we would find it punitive rather than remedial or regulatory as was the intention of the legislature.” Lodge, 2012-0733, p. 5, 116 So.3d at 855 (citation omitted).

In addition, the Louisiana Supreme Court has also found that “the period of time a sex offender is obligated to register may be extended during the time of his original registration period without violating the ex post facto clause.” Smith v. State, 2010-1140, p. 15 (La.1/24/12), 84 So.3d 487, 497. Specifically, the Louisiana Supreme Court held:

It- is well-settled that Louisiana’s sex offender registration requirements are not punitive, but rather, they are remedial and may be applied retroactively without violating the prohibition of the ex post facto clause. In State ex rel. Olivieri v. State, 00-0172 (La.2/21/01), 779 So.2d 735, this court considered an ex post facto challenge to the sex offender registration provisions. We resolved the issue by holding the registration and notification requirements imposed upon sex offenders to be a legitimate, non-punitive regulatory scheme that did not impose punishment. Id., pp. 19-20, 779 So.2d at 747. Because such provisions were found to be remedial in nature, we concluded that application of the sex offender registration and notification laws to persons convicted before their enactment does not violate ex post facto principles. Id. Similarly, in

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Related

State v. Lodge
195 So. 3d 567 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
176 So. 3d 612, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1849, 2015 WL 5604378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lodge-lactapp-2015.