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The Registry Door Swings Both Ways

By Eric L. Lipman

In a testament to the fact that Minnesota?s Predatory Offender Registration law is a flexible ?regulatory? statute, on Tuesday, a panel of the state?s Court of Appeals held that later-enacted amendments which narrowed the reach of the statute could be applied retroactively to relieve an offender of the requirements to register as a predatory offender.

The case arose out of the burglary conviction of one Rodney Jedlicka, who stole money from a purse while inside an occupied home ? a home that Jedlicka had originally entered to ?get a better view of its occupant sunbathing on the porch.?

Concluding that this crime was ?part of a predatory pattern of behavior that had criminal sexual conduct as its goal,? the District Court required Jedlicka to register as a predatory offender following his release from prison. Later, in 2005, the Legislature amended the registration statute so as to link the registration requirement to certain specified crimes ? not including burglary ? arguably making the statute more permissive in cases like that of Mr. Jedlicka.

Summarized Judge Klaphake for the panel:

Because case law has approved retroactive application of amendments to this statute in other contexts, we are persuaded that the determination of those who are required to register should be defined by the 2005 amendment rather than by the earlier statutory language. This application of section 243.166 allows the legislature to enlarge or reduce the group of offender registrants as necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, 'to create an offender registry to assist in law enforcement investigations.' We therefore conclude that Minn. Stat. § 243.166 (2006) applies retroactively to relieve appellant from the obligation to register as a predatory offender.

The panel?s complete analysis ? including a noteworthy discussion on the timeliness of post-conviction petitions for relief ? is accessible here.

Full post as published by Within the Scope on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).