What happens if my failure to register was by accident or I just forgot to register?

To be considered a crime, your failure to register must be “willful.”[527] If you can show that you did not know you had to register or that you were unable to register due to circumstances beyond your control, then you may be able to avoid a conviction for violating the registration law.[528]

HOWEVER, it is very difficult to show that you did not know you had to register unless you were never notified of your duty to register.[529] Simply forgetting to register is not a defense to this crime, even if your memory lapse was related to depression.[530] But if you had a severe, involuntary (uncontrollable) physical or mental condition that caused you not to have actual knowledge of the duty to register, then you should be able to avoid a conviction.[531]

  1. 527

    Cal. Penal Code § 290.018(a)-(b); People v. Garcia (2001) 25 Cal.4th 744, 754. ↑

  2. 528

    Bartlett v. Alameida (9th Cir. 2004) 366 F.3d 1020, 1024 (although there was evidence that petitioner was given written notice of duty to register, petitioner was entitled to present evidence that he did not read the forms, did not comprehend them, or misinterpreted the requirements); People v. Edgar (2002) 104 Cal.App.4th 210, 221 (conviction reversed where defendant was transient, documents did not provide clear notice of requirements, and prosecutor failed to show defendant knew he was required to register additional addresses); People v. Aragon (2012) 207 Cal. App. 4th 504 (no willful violation of where defendant, who lived in a mobile trailer but continued to register as a transient, did not know that trailer was a residence). ↑

  3. 529

    People v. Garcia (2001) 25 Cal.4th 744, 754-755; People v. Vigil (2001) 94 Cal.App.4th 485, 501-502. ↑

  4. 530

    People v. Barker (2004) 34 Cal.4th 345, 356-357; People v. Sorden (2005) 36 Cal.4th 65, 72; People v. Bejarano (2009) 180 Cal.App.4th 583. ↑

  5. 531

    People v. Sorden (2005) 36 Cal.4th 65, 72. ↑