Commonwealth v. Loring
463 Mass.1012; 978 N.E.2d 763; SJC-11180
(2012)
The Defendant was classified by the sex offender registry in
June of 2008, and when he failed to register a few months
later during the month of his birth (September) he was charged in District
Court with failing to register as a sex offender. A District Court judge
accepted his guilty plea. The court took
granted his application for direct appellate review.
The
court treated the Defendant’s motion to withdraw his plea as a motion for a new
trial.
The
Defendant, in his appeal, argued that his plea was not valid because the facts
he admitted to were inadequate to support a conviction. The court agreed,
holding that a “plea does not relieve the Commonwealth of its burden of proof,
and if there is no factual basis for the crime charged, a fortiori, there can
be no valid plea.”
In reviewing the sex offender registry law, G. L. c. 6, §
178F 1/2, the court held that the
Defendant’s obligation to at the police department arose in the calendar
year following the June, 2008, registration.
The Defendant was thus under no statutory obligation to register during
September 2008, his birth month and subsequently could not be convicted of the
offense he was charged with. Therefore
the defendant's plea was invalid.
The order denying the motion to withdraw the guilty plea and
for a new trial was reversed, the judgment was vacated, and an order was enter
allowing the motion to withdraw the plea.
Written 7/2013
