ROYCE (RICKY) VS. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
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RENDERED: NOVEMBER 24, 2010; 10:00 A.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2008-CA-001380-MR
RICKY ROYCE
APPELLANT
ON REMAND FROM KENTUCKY SUPREME COURT
2009-SC-000539-DG
v.
APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE JAMES D. ISHMAEL, JR., JUDGE
ACTION NO. 07-CR-01579
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
APPELLEE
OPINION
AFFIRMING
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BEFORE: MOORE AND WINE, JUDGES; HENRY, SENIOR JUDGE.
MOORE, JUDGE: This case is before us on remand from the Kentucky Supreme
Court for further consideration in light of that Court’s recent decision in Buck v.
Commonwealth, 308 S.W.3d 661 (Ky. 2010). Upon further consideration, we
affirm the decision of the Fayette Circuit Court.
Ricky Royce was convicted of a sex offense in 1997. Royce was
released from prison in 2001, and he registered as a sex offender in 2001.
Subsequently, but approximately three years prior to his indictment in the present
case, Royce was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender.
Then, in this case, he was indicted pursuant to KRS1 17.510 for failing
to register as a sex offender. Royce moved to dismiss the indictment against him,
asserting that KRS 17.510 was unconstitutional. The circuit court found that the
sex offender registration law was constitutional. Royce entered a conditional
guilty plea to the charge of failing to comply with the sex offender registration law,
subsequent offense, as set forth at KRS 17.510. He conditioned his plea on the
right to appeal the circuit court’s denial of his motion challenging the
constitutionality of KRS 17.510.
Royce appealed to this Court, contending that the 2006 amendment to
KRS 17.510(11) should not apply to him because it is unconstitutional, in that it
violates the Ex Post Facto Clause. He also asserted that the decision in Hyatt v.
Commonwealth, 72 S.W.3d 566 (Ky. 2002), does not apply to the 2006 amendment
to KRS 17.510(11) because Hyatt concerned an earlier version of the sex offender
registration laws. This Court held that the 2000 amendments to the sex offender
registration laws were applicable in this case, that Royce’s indictment under the
2006 amendments was void ab initio, and therefore, that the indictment had to be
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Kentucky Revised Statute.
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dismissed. The Court further noted that if Royce was to be prosecuted regarding
the alleged violation of KRS 17.510, then it must be under the 2000 version.
The Kentucky Supreme Court subsequently entered an opinion and
order in this case granting discretionary review, vacating this Court’s prior
decision, and remanding the case back to this Court for further consideration in
light of Buck.
In 2006, Kentucky’s sex offender registration laws, KRS 17.500, et
seq., were amended. The prior version of KRS 17.510(11), which was enacted in
2000, provided that a person who violated KRS 17.510 was guilty of a Class D
felony. However, the 2006 amendments to KRS 17.510 provided that a person
who violated that statute was “guilty of a Class D felony for the first offense and a
Class C felony for each subsequent offense.” KRS 17.510(11) (Baldwin 2006).
Royce was evidently indicted under the 2006 version of KRS 17.510(11), because
his indictment provided that his violation of that statute was a Class C Felony.
Royce claims that the 2006 amendment to KRS 17.510(11) should not
apply to him because it violates the Ex Post Facto Clause. However, pursuant to
the holding in Buck, the 2006 amendment to the Sex Offender Registration Act
enhancing the penalty for a second or subsequent offense of failing to register does
not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. See Buck, 308 S.W.3d at 667-668.
Additionally, Royce asserts that Hyatt does not apply to the 2006
amendment to KRS 17.510(11) because Hyatt concerned an earlier version of the
sex offender registration laws. Yet, the Kentucky Supreme Court held in Buck that
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there was nothing in the 2006 amendment that required the Court to depart from its
holding in Hyatt. See Buck, 308 S.W.3d at 667-68.
Accordingly, the Fayette Circuit Court’s judgment is affirmed.
ALL CONCUR.
BRIEF FOR APPELLANT:
BRIEF FOR APPELLEE:
Samuel N. Potter
Frankfort, Kentucky
Jack Conway
Attorney General
Gregory C. Fuchs
Assistant Attorney General
Frankfort, Kentucky
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