State v. Torres, 2012 Ohio 922

Torres, previously convicted of sexual abuse in New York (1992), moved to Ohio in 2007 and was subject to Megan's Law registration.
Ohio reclassified him under the Adam Walsh Act as a tier III offender, increasing reporting requirements to every 90 days for life beginning January 2008.
Torres last verified his address on May 19, 2008; 90 days later he failed to report, resulting in an AWA indictment for failure to verify his address.
In March 2009, Torres pled guilty to an amended indictment for attempted failure to verify address and received community control sanctions and reporting requirements.
An August 2009 capias was issued for noncompliance; in January 2010, he was found in violation and sentenced to two years’ incarceration.
In March 2011, Torres moved to withdraw his guilty plea and, in May 2011, moved to dismiss the indictment; the trial court granted both, and the State appealed those rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the State could appeal the withdrawal of the guilty plea.	Torres’s reclassification under the AWA lawfully subjected him to registration, so the plea withdrawal was improper.	Torres contends the plea withdrawal was appropriate due to unlawful reclassification.	Appeal on the plea-withdrawal issue was not properly preserved; the State failed to obtain required leave to appeal.
Whether the indictment could be dismissed given the AWA reclassification.	Torres’s AWA reclassification made the failure-to-verify address offense valid.	Unlawful reclassification cannot predicate the crime; conviction cannot stand under such reclassification.	The unlawful reclassification cannot serve as the basis for the offense; the indictment/dismissal issue is resolved in favor of Torres.

State v. Bodyke, 126 Ohio St.3d 266 (2010-Ohio-2424) (applies to out-of-state offenders previously classified under Megan’s Law)
State v. Matthews, 81 Ohio St.3d 375 (1998) (defines the state’s right of appeal and App.R. 5 leave requirement)