'I Forgot' Not a Defense for Calif. Sex Offenders Failing to Register

Originally published by The Associated Press, August 30, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO — "I forgot" isn't a good enough reason to keep a sex offender out of prison for failing to register with law enforcement officials, the California Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The decision means Donald Barker, who was convicted of raping or attempting to rape three elderly women in San Mateo County, will have to serve his nine-year sentence for failing to inform authorities in 2000 of his address and vehicle registration as sex offenders are required to do annually.

"We do not believe the Legislature intended that a defendant could successfully evade this duty by claiming "I totally forgot about that,'" Justice Janice Brown wrote for the 6-1 majority.

Brown wrote that to overturn Barker's prison sentence would be to invite all sex offenders who fail to register make similar "I forgot" pleas.

Justice Joyce Kennard dissented, writing that Barker shouldn't be convicted because he was arrested only one working day after the deadline passed for him to register for the year.

Barker told the San Mateo police he simply forgot to register because he was busy as a house manager at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility. His attorney argued that Barker had registered for three consecutive years before forgetting in 2000 and that he shouldn't be sent to prison for a mental slip.