United States v. LeTourneau

534 F. Supp. 2d 718, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1585, 2008 WL 112105
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedJanuary 9, 2008
DocketCriminal B-07-855
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 534 F. Supp. 2d 718 (United States v. LeTourneau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. LeTourneau, 534 F. Supp. 2d 718, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1585, 2008 WL 112105 (S.D. Tex. 2008).

Opinion

*719 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANDREW S. HANEN, District Judge.

Before this Court is a motion by defendant, Tommy Edward LeTourneau, to dismiss the indictment against him. (Docket No. 11). LeTourneau filed a memorandum in support and the government has filed an opposition to the motion. (Docket No. 13). The Court orally announced its decision denying LeTourneau’s motion on November 27, 2007 at a Pre-Trial Conference, but has written this order to memorialize the ruling.

I. BACKGROUND

For purposes of reviewing a motion to dismiss an indictment, the Court assumes the truth of what the indictment alleges. See United States v. Afshari, 426 F.3d 1150, 1153 (9th Cir.2005). A Court can also consider facts agreed upon by the parties. See, e.g., United States v. Dixon, No. 3:07-CR-72(01) RM, 2007 WL 4553720 (N.D.Ind. Dec. 18, 2007).

The Government presented facts on which the indictment is based as a part of its response to the motion to dismiss and during subsequent hearings on this case. (See Docket No. 13); (Pre-Trial Conference, November 17, 2007); (Final PreTrial Conference, January 8, 2008). Defendant never objected to any of the facts presented by the Government with regard to the motion dismiss and Defendant’s counsel conceded in open court that Le-Tourneau has a conviction which would require registration under SORNA. (See Final Pre-Trial Conference, January 8, 2008). This Court will, therefore, deem the facts as follows to have been agreed upon by the parties for purposes of ruling on this motion to dismiss: LeTourneau was convicted of Attempted Aggravated Sexual Battery in Sullivan County, Tennessee on August 19, 2004. (See Indictment, Docket No. 5 [hereinafter Indictment] ); (Docket No. 13). This conviction required him to register as a sex offender under Tennessee law. (Id.) He was also required to report to a law enforcement agency within 48 hours of changing his address, employment, vocation, or becoming a student in Tennessee. (Id.) LeTour-neau initially registered while in prison in Tennessee. (Id.)

After release from custody in June 26, 2007, LeTourneau soon thereafter traveled from Tennessee to Texas. (Docket No. 13). He has since been living and working in Brownsville, Texas. (Id.) LeTourneau never registered these changes with the proper authorities in Tennessee, nor did he register as a sex offender in Texas. (Id.)

LeTourneau was indicted on September 18, 2007 for failing to register and update his registration after traveling in interstate commerce as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SOR-NA”). (Docket No. 5).

He challenges his indictment on four grounds:

(i) SORNA violates the ex post facto clause by applying its registration requirements to convictions that occurred prior to the enactment of SORNA, creating “an enhanced penalty that did not exist at the time the offense in issue was committed .... ”
(ii) He lacked constitutionally adequate notice of SORNA’s registration requirements.
(iii) The indictment failed to allege all elements of the charged offense.
(iv) SORNA violates the non-delegation doctrine by directing the Attorney General to decide which offenders with convictions predating SORNA are subject to the registration requirements. (Docket No. 11).

*720 II. THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION AND NOTIFICATION ACT (“SORNA”)

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (the “Walsh Act”) was enacted on July 27, 2006, while LeTour-neau was still in the custody of the Tennessee authorities. Title I of the Walsh Act is the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). 42 U.S.C. § 16911. All jurisdictions must maintain a sex offender registry that conforms to the requirements of SORNA. 42 U.S.C. § 16912.

SORNA makes it a federal crime for anyone required to register as a sex offender to travel in interstate commerce and knowingly fail to register or update his or her registration. 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). A defendants is subject to SORNA’s provisions if (i) he or she has a state law sex offense requiring registration as a sex offender; (ii) then travels in interstate commerce; and (iii) knowingly fails to register or update his or her registration as required by state law. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 16911, 16912, 16913; United States v. Pitts, Crim. No. 07-157-A, 2007 WL 3353423, at *3 (M.D.La. Nov. 7, 2007).

The Attorney General has authority to specify the applicability of the requirements of SORNA to sex offenders convicted prior to July 27, 2006 and to prescribe the rules for the registration of those sex offenders. 42 U.S.C. § 16913(d). The Attorney General issued a regulation on February 28, 2007 stating, in pertinent part, that “[t]he requirements of [SORNA] apply to all sex offenders, including sex offenders convicted of [an] offense for which registration is required prior to enactment of [SORNA].” 28 C.F.R. § 72.3. SORNA therefore applies to any defendant convicted and required to register under state law, regardless of the date of conviction, who travels in interstate commerce and knowingly fails to update his or her registration. See Pitts, 2007 WL 3353423 at *3.

III. EX POST FACTO CLAUSE

LeTourneau argues his indictment must be dismissed because SORNA requires a retroactive application of the statute to a conviction existing prior to the enactment of SORNA. (Docket No. 11). Specifically, LeTourneau alleges SORNA violates the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution, U.S. Const. Art. I, § 9, cl. 3, by imposing an enhanced penalty that did not exist at the time he committed the sex offense for which he was convicted in 2004. (Docket No. 11).

A. SORNA Does Not Implicate the Ex Post Facto Doctrine Because it is Civil and Nonpunitive in Nature

The constitutional prohibition of the ex post facto doctrine applies “only to penal statutes which disadvantage the offender affected by them.” Collins v. Youngblood, 497 U.S. 37, 41, 110 S.Ct. 2715, 111 L.Ed.2d 30(1990). This Court must therefore “ascertain whether [Congress] meant the statute to establish ‘civil proceedings.’ ” Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84

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Bluebook (online)
534 F. Supp. 2d 718, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1585, 2008 WL 112105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-letourneau-txsd-2008.