Thursday, April 11, 2013

KY COA April 5 - McGranahan - Sex Offender Registration


McGranahan v. Commonwealth,  
2012-CA-000208-MR, (not to be published) 

The Court once again acknowledged that mistakes can be made in the maintenance of the sexual offender registration list, holding that it was palpable error not to grant a directed verdict when the Commonwealth failed to prove that the defendant was required to register as a sex offender based solely upon the testimony of the detective in charge of the sex offender registry that "something happened" to extend McGranahan’s original 10 year period of registration, which had expired, into a lifetime requirement. The court further concluded that merely requesting a directed verdict on general grounds without specifying a basis was insufficient to preserve the error.

Contributed by John Landon