Recently at the Pasadena Courthouse in Los Angeles County I was able to negotiate to a Penal Code Section 1385 dismissal in the interests of justice for our client charged with one misdemeanor count of violating Los Angeles County Ordinance section 13.59.030, “Registered Sex Offender in a Child Safety Zone.”
Our client is required to register as a sex offender per Penal Code section 290 for a prior criminal offense he was convicted of. Our client now volunteers as a poll worker during election season and was assigned to a nature center to work the polls and to vote for the election. During this past election season, a police officer ran his license plate and determined that he was a PC 290 registrant in a child safety zone. Our client was then cited with violating the above-mentioned LA county ordinance.
When our client hired our office, we researched the elements of the LA county ordinance and determined that to be considered a violation the prosecution must prove that the registered sex offender is loitering in a child safety zone. According to the ordinance, “loiter shall mean to delay, linger, or idle about a child safety zone with the intent to commit a sex offense for which registration is required under Penal Code section 290.”
Our office submitted a memorandum to the prosecution outlining the applicable law and arguing that our client was not loitering for purposes of the statute. We argued that he was in the vicinity for lawful work purposes and lacked the requisite intent for a conviction.
The prosecution continued to proceed with prosecution, so we met with the head deputy to further provide documentation that our client was assigned to the location for work purposes and had no intent to commit a PC 290 offense.
The prosecution agreed with our arguments and dismissed the case in the interests of justice per Penal Code section 1385!
With this result our client will not suffer a subsequent conviction or suffer any adverse penalties!
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