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March 25, 2006
My Thoughts on Georgia v. Randolph
In Georgia v. Randolph, a case decided this week, the Supreme Court held that when one co-occupant of a residence consents to police entry into the home, and the other co-occupant, who is present on scene, objects, the police may not enter the home.
My first thought is that it will be unusual for circumstances analogous to those in Georgia v. Randolph to occurr. How often is the co-occupant present when the police arrive? The dissent is concerned about the impact upon victims of domestic violence. Putting asside the issue of whether Roberts and Scalia are not being true to their conservative judicial philosophy by permitting their fourth amendment analysis to be bent by concerns over a popular, albiet important, social issue, the dissent just has no idea how domestic violence cases are investigated. When a purported domestic abuse victim calls 911 reporting that the alleged abuser is in the house, responding officers know what to do to ensure their entry into the home is justified by the "exigent circumstance" of preventing further domestic abuse or by preserving evidence of domestic abuse. In practice, it is fairly easy for officers responding to a domestic violence call to either obtain the needed consent, or to adequatly justify their entry into the home. Right or wrong, the courts seem very willing to listen to an officer's justification for the entry.
Posted by Tim Warriner at 06:54 AM
March 19, 2006
Case of the Month: People v. Hofsheier
Does Penal Code section 290 violate the equal protection clause of the state or federal Constitution by requiring a defendant convicted of oral copulation with a minor to register as a sex offender but not requiring such regsitration by a defendant convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor?
Held: To subject defendant to the mandatory registration requirement of section 290, subdivision (a)(1)(A) would deny defendant the equal protection of the laws because there is no similar registration requirement for statutory rape. The Court of Appeal was directed to remand the case to the trial court, however, to exercise its discretion to determine whether the defendant should be required to register as a sex offender under section 290, subdivision (a)(2)(E). (People v. Hofsheier (2006) __ Cal.4th __ (S124636/H026217).) This case was decided on 3/6/06.
I would anticipate legislation to require sex offender reigstration for unlawful sex with a minor. (Pen. Code, section 261.5.) Such change would render Hofsheier void.
Posted by Tim Warriner at 09:21 AM