STANLEY LOUIS TURNER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Stanley Turner, convicted as a juvenile in Minnesota for a sexual offense, was arrested in Florida for failure to register as a sexual offender. The court affirmed his conviction, holding that Florida law required registration based on his out-of-state juvenile designation as a sexual offender, even though Florida law would not have required registration had the adjudication occurred in Florida.
Turner was required to register as a sexual offender in Florida under section 943.0435(1)(a)(3), which includes persons who establish a residence in Florida and have been designated as a sexual offender in another state or jurisdiction. Florida's registration statute does not violate equal protection because it implicates neither fundamental rights nor suspect classes and satisfies rational basis review.
[1] A person adjudicated a juvenile offender in another state, who is subsequently required to register as a sexual offender in that state, may be required to register as a s…
[2] Florida law defines a sexual offender to include individuals who establish residency in Florida and have been designated as a sexual offender, sexually violent predator,…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“If appellant's juvenile adjudication had occurred in Florida, his argument would have merit. State v. J.M., 824 So.2d 105 (Fla.2002).”
Establishes that Florida distinguishes between in-state juvenile adjudications (which do not require registration) and out-of-state designations (which do).
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn 1998, Turner was adjudicated guilty in Minnesota at age 17 of an offense comparable to lewd or lascivious battery under Florida law. Minnesota law …
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EVANDER, J.
Appellant entered a no contest plea to the charge of failure to register as a sexual offender. § 943.0435, Fla. Stat. (2004). He reserved the right to appeal the court’s denial of his motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(c)(4). We affirm.
In 1998, appellant was adjudicated guilty in Minnesota of an offense he admits was comparable to that defined in section 800.04(4)(a), Florida Statutes (2004).1 He was 17 years old at that time. Pursuant to Minnesota law, he was required to register in Minnesota as a sexual offender, notwithstanding the fact that he was sentenced as a juvenile offender. On April 3, 2005, he was arrested in Florida on two misdemeanor charges, as well as the subject failure to register as a sexual offender charge.
Appellant contends that he was not required to register in Florida as a sex offender and, therefore, his motion to dismiss should have been granted by the trial court. If appellant’s juvenile adjudication had occurred in Florida, his argument would have merit. State v. J.M., 824 So. 2d 105 (Fla.2002). In J.M., our supreme court held that an adjudication of delinquency did not constitute a felony criminal conviction for purposes of adjudicating a person to be a sexual predator. However, an analysis of section 943.0435 leads us to find that appellant was, indeed, required to register as a sexual offender in Florida. In 2002, section 943.0435(l)(a), Florida Statutes, was amended to add subsections (3) and (4). These subsections provided alternative provisions by which an individual could be defined to be a sexual offender. Subsection (3) defined a sexual offender to include a person who:
[Ejstablishes or maintains a residence in this state and who has not been designated as a sexual predator by a court of this state but who has been designated as a sexual predator, as a sexually violent predator, or by another sexual offender designation in another state or jurisdiction and was, as a result of such designation, subjected to registration or community or public notification, or both, or would be if the person were a resident of that state or jurisdiction;....
Appellant falls squarely within this provision.
We further reject appellant’s equal protection argument. When a statute implicates fundamental rights or concerns a suspect class, the statute is to be analyzed under a strict scrutiny test. City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985). However, section 943.0435(l)(a) does neither and, accordingly, is to be analyzed under a rational basis test. Doe v. Moore, 410 F. 3d 1337 (11th Cir.2005). Here, the Legislature had a rational basis to include in its definition of “sexual offender,” Florida residents who had been designated sexual offenders by another state.
AFFIRMED.
GRIFFIN and SAWAYA, JJ., concur. . Lewd or lascivious battery on a person 12 years of age or older but less than 16 years of age.
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Miller v. State, 971 So. 2d 951 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007)…are equal before the law ... ”). Mr. Miller concedes that we analyze the constitutionality of section 943.0435 using the rational relationship test because it does not impair a fundamental right or affect a suspect class of persons. Turner v. State, 937 So. 2d 1184, 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (citing City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985); Doe v. Moore, 410 F. 3d 1337 (11th Cir.2005)). Under this test, a court will uphold a statute if the classification bear…
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Moore v. State, 992 So. 2d 862 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008)…nduct. The State presented no evidence that this crime was similar to an enumerated Florida crime or that Moore was released on or after October 1, 1997, from the sanction imposed for that offense. § 943.0435(1), Fla. Stat.; compare Turner v. State, 937 So. 2d 1184 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (affirming conviction for failure to register based on Minnesota conviction for offense comparable to an enumerated Florida offense); Carter v. State, 937 So. 2d 1185 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006) (noting that defendant’s Texas conviction…
Authorities Cited
- City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., Inc., 473 U.S. 432 (U.S. 1985)
- State v. J.M., 824 So. 2d 105 (Fla. 2002)
- DOE v. Moore, 410 F.3d 1337 (11th Cir. 2005)