Opinion
KM-2018-0047
03-31-2022
ROBERT AYALA v. STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
For Plaintiff: Glenn S. Sparr, Esq. For Defendant: Judy Davis, Esq.
For Plaintiff: Glenn S. Sparr, Esq.
For Defendant: Judy Davis, Esq.
DECISION
LANPHEAR, J.
This matter is before the Court on appeal of a Decision of a Magistrate of this Court. The parties have submitted memoranda, waived further testimony and argument, and the matter is before the Court for Decision.
Facts and Travel
The facts and travel are not in dispute.
Mr. Ayala was convicted of the felony of rape of a child with force in Plymouth, Massachusetts in October 1995. The suspended sentence continued until he turned eighteen years old in 1996 and required him to register as a sex offender. He registered in Massachusetts and then, when he moved to Rhode Island, re-registered in December 2015 at the Warwick Police Department.
In January 2016, the Warwick Police checked on his address, found that Mr. Ayala had vacated the residence, and charged him with failure to update his registration. In March 2017, Mr. Ayala pled to failure to notify of address change in K2-2016-0275A and was sentenced to a suspended sentence of three years.
Although Mr. Ayala pled nolo contendere, he moved to vacate the sentence in December 2017. The Court appears to have converted this motion to vacate into an action for post-conviction relief, established this independent action, assigned a new case numbered KM-2018-0047, and appointed counsel for Mr. Ayala. From the outset, the case focused on the duration of Mr. Ayala's obligation to register.
The purpose of opening a new file may have been to distinguish Mr. Ayala's claim from alleged violations of his criminal case which were being filed. The Court appointed a separate attorney for Mr. Ayala's other alleged violations of his sentence.
On March 26, 2019, the Magistrate denied Mr. Ayala's request for post-conviction relief and Mr. Ayala promptly appealed the ruling of the Magistrate. The parties eventually agreed to the facts and a briefing schedule as the issues were of law, and not fact. Final memoranda were submitted in February 2022, and the matter is now appropriate for decision.
Contentions
Mr. Ayala contends that his 1995 plea makes him subject to R.I.G.L. § 11-37.1-4(a), that his sentence ran until November 1996, and his duty to register ran until November 2006 only. He further claims that when he pled in 2017 to the 2016 failure to register charge, his attorney failed to investigate the statutory time requirements and, therefore, he was inadequately represented. Finally, he claims that his counsel provided inadequate advice and insufficient representation at the time of his plea or pleas.
The state posits that Mr. Ayala acknowledged his continuing duty to register when he registered in Warwick in 2015, and that the time during which Mr. Ayala was required to register tolled for over 2414 days when he was incarcerated (in New Hampshire for various times from 2002 through 2007, and in Rhode Island thereafter).
Analysis
When Mr. Ayala entered his plea and was sentenced in 1995, his responsibility to register continued at least through 2005.
In 2000, the registration duration for juvenile sex offenders was increased to fifteen years following the date of probation. (See G.L. 1956 § 11-37.1-4(j) as enacted by P.L. 2000, ch. 358, effective July 20, 2000.) As he did not finish his probation until November 1996, this increased the duration of Mr. Ayala's registration requirement to at least 2011.
The Court assumes without finding that the sentence would have expired on November 1, 1996. Mem. Supp. Appl. for Post-Conviction Relief 9, Jan. 14, 2019.
During his registration period, Mr. Ayala was incarcerated for 2414 days. Pursuant to the tolling provisions set forth in § 11-37.1-4 , this incarceration extended his duty to register for over eighty months, until 2018.
The Court assumes without finding that Mr. Ayala was incarcerated for 2414 days. Resp't's Mem. Supp. of Obj. to Pet'r's Mot. Post-Conviction Relief 3, Feb. 17, 2022.
This tolling statute was enacted by P.L. 1999, ch. 255.
Accordingly, Mr. Ayala was still under an obligation to register as a sex offender in March 2017 when he pled in case number K2-2016-275A, and on the dates he was found to be a violator of his sentences. He had a continuing duty to register. The attorney representing him at the plea hearing did not commit an error in calculation and correctly determined that Mr. Ayala had a continuing duty to register at the time of the plea.
The Court does not make findings concerning Mr. Ayala's continuing obligation to register after 2018 as it is beyond the scope of this appeal, and the Court may not be aware of other pertinent facts or law.
Mr. Ayala's request for post-conviction relief was properly denied by the Magistrate, and it is denied herein.
Conclusion
The Order of the Magistrate is affirmed. Mr. Ayala's request for post-conviction relief and this appeal are denied.