November 10, 2021 – Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney Shaun Khojayan was able to secure the granting of the first petition to terminate sex offender registration (CR-415) in Los Angeles under Penal Code 290.5. Senate Bill 384 established a new three tier system to determine when a registered sex offender may petition a court to be removed from the registration requirement. Generally, a petitioner would be able to file a petition after at least 10 or 20 years of registration without violations, upon their next birthday after July 1, 2021. The petition process requires first that the Department of Justice provide an opinion as to the tier the registered sex offender falls in depending on the person’s particular crime (or California equivalent of the crime): Tier I (at least 10 years registration), Tier II (at least 20 years registration) or Tier III (at least 20 years with a risk assessment).
[ Click links to open or download PDF copies of the filed petition to terminate sex offender registration (CR-415) and the granted petition (CR-418). ]
In this case, the Department of Justice stated that the client’s tier based on his out-of-state crime was still “to be determined” which meant that the client had to wait up to two years for his tier to be determined. However, undeterred, Mr. Khojayan prepared and filed the client’s petition anyway attaching arguments and reasons to the form petition for the Court to decide the tier on its own and grant the petition. Specifically, Mr. Khojayan argued that the client’s out-of-state conviction was either in a tier I or a tier II, the original jurisdiction had already terminated his requirement to register, and that his over twenty years of registration without a violation were enough. The Court ordered the District Attorney to respond to the petition. At the hearing, the District Attorney responded that he had reviewed the petition, believed that the client was in a Tier II, and he did not oppose the granting of the petition. Without delay, the Court stated it had read the petition and granted it stating that the Court was glad that “a load had been lifted off the defendant” after so many years. The client was very thankful to be able to move on with his life.
