Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Pell, 211 N.C. App. 376 (Apr. 19, 2011)
(1) G.S. 14-202(l) (requiring sex offender registration for certain peeping offenses when a judge finds, in part, that the defendant is “a danger to the community”) is not unconstitutionally vague. (2) The trial court erred by requiring the defendant to register as a sex offender when there was no competent evidence to support a finding that he was a danger to the community. “A danger to the community” refers to those defendants who pose a risk of engaging in sex offenses following release from incarceration. Here, the State’s expert determined that the defendant represented a low to moderate risk of re-offending and acknowledged that his likelihood of re-offending may be even lower after considering a revised risk assessment scale. The trial court also reviewed letters from the defendant's psychiatrist and counselor opining that the defendant’s prior diagnoses of major depression, alcohol abuse, and paraphilia were in remission.