State v. Moody, 2013 Ohio 2234

Moody, a registered sex offender, pled no contest to a reduced charge of attempted failure to provide notice of a change of address and was sentenced to five years of community control.
Moody’s Megan’s Law designation as a sexually oriented offender, later reclassified under the Adam Walsh Act, was restored by Bodyke-based jurisprudence, but Moody remained obligated to notify the sheriff of changes of residence.
Moody was indicted for failure to provide notice of a change of residence under R.C. 2950.05, then pled to the amended charged of attempted failure to provide notice; disposition was left silent in the plea agreement.
A restitution order of $302.94 was entered payable to the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, though the record did not clearly explain the basis for this award or Moody’s consent.
A community-control condition prohibited Moody from communicating with the victim of the instant offense; Moody argued this should bar contact with the sheriff’s registration unit.
On appeal Moody raised three assignments of error: ineffective assistance of counsel, restitution to law enforcement, and the no-contact condition with the sheriff’s department; the court vacated the restitution and no-contact provisions and remanded for modification of the judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel due to plea choice	Moody argues counsel should have advised pleading to the original charge	Moody contends the original charge lacked a mens rea	First assignment overruled; reasonable strategy to plead to the reduced charge.
Restitution to law enforcement	Moody contends the Sheriff is not a proper victim and no consent to restitution existed	State asserts consent appeared in plea form but record lacked explicit consent	Second assignment sustained; restitution to the Sheriff’s Department was improperly ordered and not consented to.
No-contact restriction with sheriff's department	Restriction should not bar Moody from registering obligations with the Sheriff’s office	Boilerplate language applied to the victim of the instant offense	Third assignment sustained; boilerplate restriction was improper; modification granted.

State v. Stansell, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 23630, 2010-Ohio-5756 (2d Dist. Montgomery, 2010) (strict-liability for failure to provide notice under R.C. 2950.05)
State v. Horner, 126 Ohio St.3d 466, 2010-Ohio-3830 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010) (indicts absence of culpable mental state not defective when statute lacks mens rea)
State v. Johnson, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 24288, 2012-Ohio-1230 (2d Dist. Montgomery, 2012) (restitution awards may be upheld when in plea agreement)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 107, 2010-Ohio-6301 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010) (statutory mens rea absence and concept of strict liability)