Failure to Register Argument

by: Ryan Scott • May 20, 2025 • no comments

Assume a car is pulled over for a traffic stop on August 1st. It turns out the driver was supposed to register as a sex offender on January 1st, but he had not. When taking him into custody, the police find a baggie of cocaine. He is subsequently charged with both crimes in a single indictment.

I previously wrote a blog post -- and a demurrer, available upon request -- arguing that the indictment should be dismissed because the counts are improperly joined. The "failure to register" did not occur during the traffic stop. It occurred seven months earlier. For that reason, the two crimes are not from the same criminal episode. The two crimes are not part of a common scheme or plan. They are not same or similar. Because the improper joinder is plain on the face of the indictment and regardless of any joinder language in the indictment, the proper vehicle is a demurrer, and the proper remedy dismissal.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. Rather, this post is based on the news that the Oregon Supreme Court has granted review to a case with the following issues:

(1) Whether time is a material element of the crime of failing to report as a sex offender.

(2) Whether the state may satisfy its burden of proving that a crime occurred on the date pleaded in an indictment by providing evidence that the crime occurred at an earlier date than that pleaded in the indictment.

The Court of Appeals' opinion is State of Oregon v. Edwardo Luis Ribas, 333 Or App 789, 554 P3d 280 (2024) (A178917) (S071443) (on review from the Linn County Circuit Court)

Technically, not the same legal issues as the demurrer described above, but the two are highly interrelated.