United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant's conviction and sentence for failing to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is affirmed, where: 1) Congress has the authority under the Commerce Clause to enact SORNA and to require the defendant, a convicted sex offender who traveled interstate, to register as a sex offender; and 2) under the modified categorical approach, the defendant's admission in his plea agreement that the victim of his sexual abuse was unable to consent because of her intoxication is sufficient to render his state conviction a crime of sexual abuse, thus rendering him a Tier III sex offender at sentencing.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/03/2013
• Published 06/03/2013

Judges

• CALLAHAN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel