State v. Moore, 240 N.C. App. 465 (Apr. 7, 2015)

In this failure to register case based on willful failure to return a verification form as required by G.S. 14-208.9A, the trial court erred by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss. To prove its case, the State must prove that the defendant actually received the letter containing the verification form. It noted: “actual receipt could have been easily shown by the State if it simply checked the box marked “Restricted Delivery?” and paid the extra fee to restrict delivery of the … letter to the addressee, the sex offender.” The court also found that there was insufficient evidence that the sheriff’s office made a reasonable attempt to verify the defendant’s address, another element of the offense. The evidence indicated that the only attempt the Deputy made to verify that the defendant still resided at his last registered address was to confirm with the local jail that the defendant was not incarcerated. Finally, the court found that State failed to show any evidence that the defendant willfully failed to return the verification form.