After Appeals Court decision, Bay County authorities drop charges against homeless sex offender who failed to register

2-24-2010 Michigan:

The case against a homeless sex offender who was jailed for failing to register his address has been dismissed.

Patrick J. Maher Jr. is one of an undetermined number of homeless sex offenders who no longer have to comply with the state Sex Offender Registration Act, a 1994 law that compels convicted offenders to let state police know where they live.

Maher, 29, originally pleaded guilty but withdrew the plea at his November sentencing hearing after his attorney, Mark E. Janer, expressed an interest in introducing homelessness as his defense.

At the same time, a state Appeals Court was considering the Catch-22 inherent in the law.

Feb. 2, the court announced it’s decision in the appeal filed on behalf of Randall L. Dowdy, a 61-year-old homeless man facing the same dilemma in Ingham County.

“The Appeals Court has ruled that the state Sex Offender Registry does not apply to the homeless,” said Janer.

Judges Jane M. Beckering and Jane E. Markey, both of Grand Rapids, and Stephen L. Borrello of Lansing, comprised the Appeals Court.

The judges wrote, “... the Legislature provided for maintaining information on the location of convicted sexual offenders in order to provide for the public safety. But, in so doing, the Legislature chose to focus those reporting requirements on persons who have a domicile or residence, as defined by the act.”

The question of what to do about the homeless is back in the hands of state lawmakers who must amend the law or allow homeless sex offenders to go unchecked.

Maher pleaded guilty April 15, 2002, to attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person 13 to 15. The charge stemmed from a July 4, 2001, incident in Bay County, state records show. ..Source.. LaNia Coleman | The Bay City Times