ID- Idaho high court considers sex offender case

6-18-2009 Idaho:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court is deciding whether a recent ruling allowing sex offenders to have attorneys during court-ordered psychosexual evaluations - or refuse to take part in the evaluations at all - should be applied retroactively.

If the court agrees with Jerry Vavold, a sex offender who was sentenced to 5 to 20 years in prison after a 2nd District judge decided his evaluation showed he was likely to commit crimes again, the sentences of sex offenders statewide could be called into question.

The case arose after the Idaho Supreme Court said in 2007 that another sex offender, Krispen Estrada, should be given a new sentence because he was denied his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during his pre-sentence investigation. Vavold says that ruling should be applied to all cases, no matter how old they are. ..Source.. by FOX12 Idaho.com