Robinson v. Commonwealth
2008-CA-000975 9/25/09 2009 WL 3047594
Opinion by Judge Thompson; Judge Caperton and Senior Judge Graves concurred. The Court affirmed a judgment of the circuit court entered pursuant to a guilty plea reserving the right to appeal the denial of a motion to amend the indictment from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The Court first held that in amending the sex offender registration statute, KRS 17.510(11), in 2006, the legislature intended to establish a uniform penalty for all sex offenders. Therefore, appellant was subject to the statutory penalty contained in the 2006 version of the statute, which made the penalty for failure to register a Class D felony. The Court also held that the ex post facto clauses of the U.S and Kentucky Constitutions did not prevent the application of the 2006 statute to appellant, as the 2006 statute did not have a real and direct effect on the punishment for appellant’s past crimes but served only to affect the punishment for his commission of a future crime.
