Failure to answer door for P.O. insufficient to revoke community control.
Corey Brown, Jr. was originally sentenced to prison for five years because he failed to answer his door when his probation officer knocked at 6:50 AM.
His PO claimed she showed up at his door, called his cellphone but nobody answered, knocked very loudly but nobody answered and left a card in his door but nobody called back. Brown claimed he was home but asleep at 6:50 AM, didn’t hear his phone ring or anybody knock on his door and never found a card left in his door jam. Nevertheless, the lower court convicted him of not being at his residence and gave him years in prison!
Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal said no way! When the State charges a violation of community control, it must prove the violation by the greater weight of the evidence. There must be finding of a willful and substantial violation of a condition of community control.
At issue was whether the “State’s evidence that no one answered the door in response to a knock is legally sufficient to prove that Brown was not home. It is not.” The court observed that Brown could have been asleep (as many people are at 6:50 AM), in the shower, or a multitude of other reasons.
FAC NOTE: if you are not under house arrest or a probation curfew, you do not need to be home when police come to do an address verification.
Thanks to Bill Dobbs for sharing this case.
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https://youtu.be/jSEiS5Ih0r8
The president signed an important EO today to keep bullying regulations from Feds away from the Sovereigns, the Americans. I keep thinking over and over we should go directly to him and complain about how past previous admins have abused gov powers. He’s been giving so many criminals second chances. Idk. This EO seems to talk about submitting such info to WH when there are any clandestine or hidden regulations where Feds knock on our doors over things Americans are confused about with regulations.
On top of that, the list provided is valuable. Thank you, FAC. We have to take every chance we’ve got!
I have not studied the Floriduh laws or statutes but I would be very, very surprised if even THAT criminal regime has attempted to force a Registered Person (RP) to do anything at all regarding in-person visits at an RP’s home, work, or anywhere else. I think such visits are USUALLY just minor nuisances but I don’t think they should EVER be allowed. Registries are not acceptable and no one should ever do anything that even suggests otherwise. So I don’t think RPs should ever allow law enforcement to get near them, especially not at home, work, or school. Don’t allow it and don’t acknowledge them. If they leave a card/sign/whatever asking you to call them, throw it away. Treat it as the nuisance that they are.
It does seem like a minor thing in most cases but LE simply should never, ever see any acceptance or endorsement of Registries. Stop worrying about being the good, compliant, wet dream, reduced-rights “$EX offender” that they love so much.
You sound like to me someone who is actually FOR the registries and trying to trick registrants into getting violated. I hate what we have to do as much as the next registered citizen but doing the right thing has kept me out of jail now since they started these damn things in 1997. The fight should be in the courts, not focused on law enforcement who cannot do anything but arrest us if we give them a reason to which you suggest.Although I understand the radical stance, that usually does not end well. Think Waco Texas and the Branch Davidians.
Agreed – our moderators try to catch and filter out comments from people who encourage others to skirt the laws. We might disagree with them, we might challenge them in courts, but we will never encourage anyone to risk a third degree felony by violating any requirement of the registry. We will also never encourage disrespecting law enforcement officers. First, they are just doing their job, and second, there’s no better way to make your situation worse than to piss them off.
If you don’t like a law, contribute to our lawsuit that challenges it (or hire an attorney to bring your own – DO NOT FILE SOMETHING PRO SE).
If someone in law enforcement does something out of line, report them to internal affairs.
Thank you FAC for the nice stance. I know some think we are just sheep doing what we are told but unlike the squeeky bird gets the worm, the squeeky offender gets a jail cell.
Surely I don’t sound like someone who supports Registries, LOL! I expect that I am more radically against them than a good 99.9% of the people who are listed on them are. Most organizations won’t even let me say what I think SHOULD be done to Registry Supporters.
Having said that, I’m not encouraging anyone to not follow any laws or even try to “skirt” the edges of them. What I am saying is that no one should EVER act like the laws are acceptable. That’s all. Do what is required by law. What is forced by law at the point of a gun. But do no more.
In the state where I live, Registered Persons (RPs) are required to go to a law enforcement (LE) agency and give them information. So that is what should be done. The criminal regime of the state where I live has NOT tried to force RPs to allow law enforcement (or any other big government employees) to visit RPs at their homes. Or at their places of work or anywhere else. They have NOT tried that illegal nonsense. Therefore, RPs simply should not allow it. It is very trivial and you don’t even have to be hateful about it.
In the state where I live you can put a wall or fence around your property and never respond to LE there. Not ever. I’ve seen LE at my home before and just say “hello” to them. I’m always polite (until they aren’t) but I won’t sign anything there. The glorious LAW does not state that I must. If they want to try to push that illegal nonsense onto RPs, then let the criminals just put it in their LAWS. That’s all.
The law in our state does say that the criminal regime will mail a certified letter to an RP and the RP must take that letter to a law enforcement agency. So RPs do that. No reason to do or allow more. There are literally no good reasons to allow LE to get near you. Certainly not to get onto your property or speak to you or your family. Have people not learned anything?
You don’t have to be rude to them. But for me personally, if I know that a person thinks Registries are okay, then I know that I don’t have to have any concern for how I treat them. I don’t have to care about them or their families. I’ll worry about good people.
Because Registries exist, people should not support law enforcement. That is a consequence of Registries and their immoral, anti-factual, anti-reality, anti-American “laws”. They should understand that clearly. Registries don’t work and they’ll cost as much as possible.
Will – in YOUR state things might be different.
Will ,Just wondering what state you in?
Of course, and they certainly will be different.
But didn’t you specifically post Floriduh’s laws regarding home, work, etc. visits from law enforcement? I did not see anything in the laws that requires a Registered Person (RP) to participate in that in any way.
Where I live, RPs are required to visit a law enforcement location and give them certain information. Prior to that, a certified letter is mailed to the RP’s home and he/she must take that with him/her. So that is all done. But, the criminal regime has NOT attempted to create a “law” that requires that an RP allow LE or any other big government employees to visit them at their home, work, school, or anywhere. They have not attempted that. And I don’t think such a law would have much of a chance to be held as legal. Can you imagine if it were?! Would that not be very much just like probation or parole? Geez.
Frankly, these criminal regimes could do a LOT to make their Registries a heck of a lot more acceptable to Americans if all RPs had zero obligations AT ALL. Not even an obligation to report anything. The criminal regimes lie all the time about how they “verify” the information, so let them collect it and verify it. An RP should have zero obligations and thus would not live under ANY threat of ANY possible arrest for ANYTHING. Would that not be so much easier, more fair, and American for everyone? Sure would. That, and creating the 100+ other big government Registries that MUST exist now.
Anyway, my point was just that Registries aren’t acceptable. People should do what they have to do and NOTHING further. Do not offer up even MORE! These criminal regimes are not even capable of operating within the law. I truly have not seen one yet that CAN!! Don’t encourage that or help them. And there is no reason to want to have them on your property or near your family. They are a danger. Personally, there is no way that I will put my spouse or children in danger like that. Especially at my own home!!
If I was going to allow them to visit me, then I’d certainly make them attempt it 5 or 10 times before they found me. I’d cost them as much time and money as possible.
There is NO reason to be nice or help anyone who thinks Registries are okay.