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Name: People v. King
Case #: B192709
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 2 DCA
Division: 2
Opinion Date: 06/11/2007
Summary

Where the trial court exercised its discretion to impose a registration requirement as a condition of probation, appellant was not in violation of Penal Code section 290 for failing to register. In 2002 appellant pled no contest to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (Penal Code section 261.5) in return for a five year grant of probation. One of the conditions of probation was the requirement that he register as a sex offender during the probationary period. When appellant failed to register in 2006, he was charged with a violation of Penal Code section 290. Appellant entered into a plea agreement but sought a certificate of probable cause to preserve his right to raise the issue that since his obligation to register as a sex offender was premised solely on a condition of probation for a nonregistrable offense, he does not violate section 290 when he fails to notify law enforcement of a change of address. The appellate court reversed the judgment, concluding that since appellant was not ordered to register pursuant to section 290, subdivision (a)(2)(E), he could not be convicted of violating section 290. The trial court specifically limited the registration requirement to the five year probation period, and did not impose the lifetime requirement under section 290. Consequently, the failure to register was simply a violation of a condition of probation, rather than a violation of section 290.