VANMETER, Judge:
Homer Ray Lawson appeals from his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender. He claims the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on mistake of law. For the following reasons, we affirm.
In 2002, Lawson was convicted of one count of first-degree burglary and five counts of first-degree unlawful imprisonment. Two of the counts of unlawful imprisonment involved minors. He received a sentence of ten years' imprisonment.
On December 1, 2010, Lawson was released after completing his sentence. Under the Sexual Offender Registration Act ("SORA"), Lawson was required to be placed on the registration system for adults who have committed sex crimes or crimes against minors. Before his release, Lawson was provided with a Kentucky sex offender registration responsibility form which explained his affirmative duties under SORA, including his duty to inform his local probation and parole office before moving. The form contained the following statements:
Lawson complied with SORA by reporting to the local probation office upon his release and registering his parents' address in London, in Laurel County, as his residence. Later, after receiving a new form in the mail, he mailed in the form and again registered his parents' address.
On March 23, 2011, Lawson notified a probation and parole officer he had deactivated an email address and asked for a correction to his listing on the registry which erroneously indicated he had a rape conviction. On the Kentucky sex offender registry form he signed on that date, he again listed his parents' address as his residence. The form included the following language: "I also understand that prior to any change of address, I am required to notify the local probation and parole office."
In June 2011, Lawson became employed at a job twenty miles from his parents' residence. He began staying with his girlfriend at her home in Keavy, also in Laurel County, because he did not own a car and it was easier for him to arrange transportation to work. His girlfriend's father, who was also his co-worker and lived close by, drove Lawson to and from work. On the weekends, Lawson often returned home to his parents' residence.
On August 30, 2011, Officer Smith arrested Lawson outside his Keavy residence after he returned from work. Lawson admitted to staying in Keavy most of the time for the past couple of months. When asked why he had not registered, he indicated he intended to do so when he received his modification form in the mail.
Lawson was indicted for failure to comply with the registration system for adults who have committed sex crimes or crimes against minors and for being a second-degree persistent felony offender ("PFO"). At the jury trial, the Commonwealth presented testimony from Probation and Parole Officer Cheryl Cooper and Officer Smith.
Cooper testified Lawson signed an updated Kentucky sex offender registry form at the probation and parole office on March 23, 2011, but stated she did not read the form to him or explain his duties to update his registry address before he moved. This form was admitted into evidence.
Officer Smith testified Lawson admitted he had to report, but indicated he had not received his modification form in the mail yet. Officer Smith stated Lawson indicated it was acceptable for him to wait on updating his address on the registry until he received the form.
Lawson testified he stayed with his girlfriend so he would have a ride to work, but often returned to his parents' house. Although he was aware he had to register a new address if he moved and intended to register his new address, he was not aware he had to register a new address on or before the date of the move and did not believe he was beyond the time limit for registering his new address. He testified he believed the periodic modification forms he received in the mail were for the purpose of registering a new address and he was not obligated to register a new address until he received a new modification form. He admitted receiving registry forms from the Department of Corrections containing information on time limits for registering a new address, having the capacity to read them and having read them, but indicated he must not have read the forms carefully because he did not realize he was obligated to update his registered address prior to receiving a new form.
During cross-examination, Lawson acknowledged receiving the Kentucky sex offender registration responsibility form before his release and the form was admitted into evidence. He also acknowledged signing an updated Kentucky sex offender registry form on March 23, 2011. At the Commonwealth's request, Lawson read portions of these forms that stated registrants were required to register a new address on or before the date they moved. Lawson was able to read these provisions and explain they obligated him to register his new address before he moved. However, Lawson's testimony did not establish he understood this obligation before he was arrested.
Lawson tendered instructions on the affirmative defenses of mistake of fact and law. Both proposed instructions stated as follows:
Lawson argued he was mistaken as to when he was obligated to register his new address and an instruction on mistake was appropriate because no one was able to testify this obligation was read or explained to him. Lawson argued this legal defense negated the "knowingly" element of the crime and would be helpful to the jury. The trial court rejected these instructions, determining that because Lawson was advised of his obligation through the forms he received, no basis supported an instruction on mistake.
The court instructed the jury to convict Lawson if it found he had a prior conviction for unlawful imprisonment, was over eighteen years of age, changed his address and "[w]hen he did so, if he did, he knowingly failed to notify the Probation and Parole Office on or before the date of his change of residence address." The court also instructed the jury as to the relevant statutory definitions.
The jury convicted Lawson of failure to comply with the registration system. During the penalty phase of the trial, the jury acquitted Lawson on the PFO charge. The jury recommended a sentence of four years' imprisonment and Lawson was sentenced in accordance with this recommendation. Lawson timely appealed.
On appeal, Lawson argues he was entitled to a jury instruction on the affirmative defense of mistake of law pursuant to KRS
We examine alleged errors regarding jury instructions as a question of law under a de novo standard of review. Hamilton v. CSX Transp., Inc., 208 S.W.3d 272, 275 (Ky.App.2006). "A trial court is required to instruct the jury on every theory of the case that is reasonably deducible from the evidence." Fredline v. Commonwealth, 241 S.W.3d 793, 797 (Ky. 2007). This includes instructing the jury on statutory defenses, including mistake of law, if some evidence was introduced which would permit the finding of such a defense. Commonwealth v. Adkins, 331 S.W.3d 260, 263 (Ky.2011).
Under SORA, adults who have committed sex crimes or certain enumerated crimes against minors, including false imprisonment, are required to register with a probation and parole office in the county in which they will reside after their release. KRS 17.500(3)(a)2; KRS 17.510(2). They are also required to inform probation and parole of any change in residence. KRS 17.510(10). A residence is defined as a place where a person sleeps; a person can have more than one residence so long as each address is registered. KRS 17.500(9). Under 502 KAR
Because Lawson began staying with his girlfriend and her home was within the same county as his other residence, he was required to register this address "on or before the date of the change of address, with the appropriate local probation and parole office in [Laurel county]." KRS 17.510(10)(a). KRS 17.510(11) provides: "Any person required to register under this section who knowingly violates any of the provisions of this section or prior law
The Kentucky Penal Code defines "knowingly" as follows: "A person acts knowingly with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists." KRS 501.020(2). This definition is even narrower than the Model Penal Code's requirement of actual knowledge. Martin v. Commonwealth, 96 S.W.3d 38, 62 (Ky.2003).
The statute setting forth the possible defense for mistake is KRS 501.070. This statute provides, in relevant part:
Few reported cases have applied this statute. The reason for this dearth of authority is undoubtedly the long-standing concept that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Jellico Coal Mining Co. v. Commonwealth, 96 Ky. 373, 29 S.W. 26, 27 (1895).
The commentary to the 1974 adoption of the Kentucky Penal Code, KRS Chapters 500 to 534, demonstrates the correct interpretation
Ky. Crime Comm'n, Commentary, KRS 501.070 (1974) (emphasis added).
In this case, Lawson has pointed to no mistake of
As to mistake of
Under subsection (3), the mistaken belief of law must be "actually founded" upon an official statement of the law later determined to be erroneous, whether statute, judicial decision, administrative order, or statement of an official charged with enforcing the law, such as a parole officer. See Walker, 127 S.W.3d at 608-09 (holding that defendant was entitled to mistake of law instruction based on reliance on 1872 published opinion). Lawson does not argue that he relied on something or someone official. This may be because (1) he received a form on two occasions, December 2010 and March 2011, prior to his change of residence, in May or June 2011, that advised him of the requirement to pre-register a move; (2) he signed a form that notified him of his obligation to pre-register; and (3) his probation officer told him of the necessity to pre-register. His only basis for his claimed mistake is that he "thought" he had to send in his new address when he got the new form. He points to no authority for his claimed mistake of law.
The Laurel Circuit Court's judgment is affirmed.
NICKELL, Judge, concurs.
THOMPSON, Judge, dissents, without separate opinion.