DOJ-OGR-00030484.jpg

LAW OFFICES OF
GERALD B. LEFCOURT, P.C.

Ms. Lanna Belohlavek
June 5, 2006
Page 2

I. An Aggravated Assault Conviction Might Subject the Client to Sex-Registration

There is a likely risk that a plea to aggravated assault, F.S.A. § 784.021(1)(b), will expose the client to registration obligations under the Megan’s Law statutes, either as currently written, or as likely to be amended or expanded in the future, in a number of jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, ones where he lives, works, or spends time. This is true regardless of whether the plea expressly specifies that the felony he had the intent to commit was lewd and lascivious behavior under F.S.A. § 800.04 or sexual battery under F.S.A. § 794.011.

As my client is a full time resident of the Virgin Islands, the most immediate and obvious unintended result of a plea to felony aggravated assault is the possible registration in his place of residency. The Virgin Islands statute, 14 V.I.C. § 1722 et seq., is very broad, imposing a duty to register upon a “person convicted ... on or after July 1, 1994 of a criminal offense against a minor”. 14 V.I.C. § 1722(a) (emphasis added). Under § 1722 (c), “a person convicted ... in a federal, military or foreign court shall have the same duty to register as any other person under this statute.” Failure to register is a crime. 14 V.I.C. § 1722(d). Further, while the Virgin Islands registry is currently accessible only to law enforcement, there are ongoing discussions about opening it to the public. See, Virgin Islands Daily News, May 15, 2006, at http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17296624.¹

Under current law, a plea to aggravated assault will also likely subject the client to registration in his secondary domicile of New York. The list of registrable offenses in New York under the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) is a long one, which continues to grow. In 1999, eight new offenses were added to the list of registrable offenses, and again on March 11, 2002, seven new offenses were added.

¹ A non-exhaustive search has identified two other jurisdictions in which the client would appear to be subject to registration requirements simply on the basis of a plea, in Florida, to aggravated assault - Oklahoma and Montana.

Oklahoma requires the registration of persons convicted of assault with intent to commit a felony, in violation of 21 Okl. St. Ann. § 681 “if the offense involved sexual assault.” See, 57 Okl. St. Ann. § 582 (A). Oklahoma law requires the registration, too, of persons convicted of an offense outside the jurisdiction which, if committed in the state, would constitute a registrable offense. 57 Okl. St. Ann. § 582(B).

Likewise, Montana requires registration of both sexual offenders and violent offenders. "Violent offenders" include persons convicted of any violent offense, which is expressly defined to include “aggravated assault” under MCA 45-05-202, or “any violation of a law of another state ... reasonably equivalent” to that crime. MCA 46-23-502(9).

07/26/17
Page 17 of 131
Public Records Request No.: 17-295
DOJ-OGR-00030484