TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Appellant, v. ANONYMOUS ADULT TEXAS RESIDENT, Appellee.
No. 03-11-00602-CV.
Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin.
Aug. 30, 2012.
376 S.W.3d 531
Scot M. Graydon, Assistant Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Texas Department of Public Safety.
Mary A. Keeney, Patrick F. Thompson, Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, PC,
Before Chief Justice JONES, Justices PEMBERTON and ROSE.
OPINION
J. WOODFIN JONES, Chief Justice.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) appeals from a trial court judgment in favor of the appellee, an anonymous adult Texas resident, reversing the DPS‘s determination that the appellee is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Texas Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA),
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The relevant facts in this case are undisputed. In 1993 the appellee, then 22 years old, was convicted in Massachusetts for indecent assault and battery on a person over fourteen years of age. See
In 2006 the appellee moved to Texas and became a licensed emergency medical technician. From 2007 to 2010, the appellee applied for firefighter positions in several Texas cities and disclosed his 1993 Massachusetts conviction in his applications. At the request of one of his prospective employers, he provided additional documentation related to the Massachusetts conviction.
Shortly thereafter, the DPS notified the appellee that he was required to register as a sex offender in Texas based on his Massachusetts conviction, stating that the elements of the Massachusetts crime are substantially similar to the elements of the Texas offense of sexual assault, which is a reportable conviction under SORA with a lifetime registration requirement. See
In cross-motions for summary judgment, the parties joined issue regarding whether
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Summary judgment is proper if the movant establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See
DISCUSSION
An individual with a reportable conviction for certain offenses of a sexual nature must register with the local law enforcement authority in any municipality where the person resides or intends to reside for more than seven days. See
In the present case, the DPS contends that the elements of the Massachusetts crime of indecent assault and battery on a person over fourteen years of age are substantially similar to the Texas offenses of sexual assault, indecency with a child, and attempts of either of those crimes, depending on the context. See
Contrary to the DPS‘s assertion, we do not read Garcia to require consideration of the individual facts and circumstances of the appellee‘s conviction in determining whether he is required to report as a sex offender in Texas. In Garcia we considered whether the elements of Oregon‘s statutory-rape statute were substantially similar to the elements of the Texas statutory-rape statute. Id. at 903-06. We concluded that, objectively, the elements of the two statutes were substantially similar. See id. at 904-05. However, the Oregon statute was broader and criminalized sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 18 whereas the Texas statute only criminalized such conduct with a child under the age of 17. Id. Therefore, although the elements of the two statutes were substan-
Although we considered the individual facts and circumstances underlying the foreign conviction in Garcia, we did so only after determining that the elements of the two statutes were objectively substantially similar, although not identical. This, we believe, is required by SORA‘s plain language, which emphasizes a comparison of statutory elements rather than individual conduct by defining a reportable conviction to include a violation of the laws of another state ... for or based on the violation of an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to the elements of [reportable Texas offenses].
For a foreign statute to be substantially similar to a reportable SORA offense, the elements being compared ... must display a high degree of likeness, but may be less than identical. Prudholm, 333 S.W.3d at 594 (establishing standard for determining whether statutes are substantially similar under identical wording in sentencing enhancement provision); see also Ex parte Warren, 353 S.W.3d 490, 496 (Tex. Crim.App.2011) (applying Prudholm
At the time appellee was convicted, the Massachusetts offense of indecent assault and battery on a person fourteen or older provided:
Whoever commits an indecent assault and battery on a person who has attained age fourteen shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction.
[A]n indecent assault and battery is essentially an act or series of acts [that] are fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values ... [I]t is behavior [that] the common sense of society would regard as immodest, immoral and improper ... Thus, in order to prove indecent assault and battery, the Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed an intentional, unprivileged and indecent touching of the victim. It has been held that the intentional, unjustified touching of private areas such as the breasts, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and pubic area of a female constitutes an indecent assault and battery.
Commonwealth v. Mosby, 30 Mass.App.Ct. 181, 567 N.E.2d 939, 941 (1991) (citations and quotations omitted) (second alteration in original). However, [t]he touching in question need not be restricted to the list of anatomical parts and areas referred to in [Mosby]. Commonwealth v. Vazquez, 65 Mass.App.Ct. 305, 839 N.E.2d 343, 346 (2005) (citing Mosby, 567 N.E.2d at 941). Indeed, under Massachusetts law, the mouth and its interior are considered to be an intimate part of the body, such that unwanted kissing, with or without attempted insertion of the tongue, when coupled with improper sexual overtones, can be fundamentally offensive to contemporary moral values. Cf. id. (considering conviction for indecent assault and battery of child under age 14,
The intent element requires a showing that the defendant had a conscious purpose to touch the complainant indecently or offensively without her consent. Commonwealth v. Marzilli, 457 Mass. 64, 927 N.E.2d 993, 996 (2010). However, specific intent is not required; intent is satisfied by the general criminal intent to do that which the law prohibits. Cf. Commonwealth v. Ford, 424 Mass. 709, 677 N.E.2d 1149, 1152 (1997) (holding that assault and battery is general intent crime); Commonwealth v. Egerton, 396 Mass. 499, 487 N.E.2d 481, 485 (1986) (interpreting similar indecent assault and battery statute for victims under 14 years of age,
The relevant elements of the Texas offense of sexual assault, on the other hand, are set forth in penal code section 22.011, as follows:
(1) intentionally or knowingly, and
(2) without the victim‘s consent;
(3) a person either causes the penetration of (i) the anus or female sexual organ of another person who is not the spouse of the actor by any means, or (ii) of the mouth of another person who is not the spouse of the actor by the sexual organ of the actor; or
(4) causes contact or penetration by the sexual organ of the victim to the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor.
In addition, the statutes lack substantial similarity with respect to the individual and public interests protected and the impact of the elements on the seriousness of the offenses. See Prudholm, 333 S.W.3d at 594. Section 13H (indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of fourteen) is designed to protect against, and punish, unwanted, indecent touching. Commonwealth v. Oliveira, 53 Mass.App.Ct. 480, 487, 760 N.E.2d 308 (2002) (distinguishing purposes of indecent assault and battery and assault with intent-to-rape statute). In contrast, the Texas sexual assault statute protects against the severe physical and psychological trauma of rape. Prudholm, 333 S.W.3d at 599. Thus, the statutes have notably distinct purposes.
With respect to the impact of the statutes’ elements on the seriousness of the offenses, the differences between the type of contact required by the two statutes results in a significant difference in the authorized range of punishment. Both crimes are felonies, but the maximum sentences that can be imposed vary dramatically. See
Nor are the elements of criminal attempt substantially similar to the Massachusetts indecent assault and battery statute. Under Texas law, [a] person commits an offense [of criminal attempt] if, with specific intent to commit [a particular] offense, he does an act amounting to more than mere preparation that tends but fails to effect the commission of the offense intended.
In accordance with the foregoing analysis, we conclude that the elements of the Massachusetts offense of indecent assault and battery on a person over fourteen years of age are not substantially similar to the elements of the Texas offenses of sexual assault, indecency with a child, attempted sexual assault, and attempted indecency with a child. We therefore overrule the DPS‘s second issue. Our disposition of this issue makes it unnecessary for us to consider the DPS‘s first issue regarding exclusion of the police report.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated, we affirm the trial court‘s judgment.
Concurring Opinion by Justice ROSE, joined by Justice PEMBERTON.
JEFF ROSE, Justice, concurring.
I concur in the majority‘s judgment. For substantially the same reasons identified in the majority‘s opinion, I agree that the elements of the Massachusetts offense of indecent assault and battery on a person over fourteen years of age are not substantially similar to the elements of the Texas offense of sexual assault.
I do not agree, however, with the majority‘s conclusion that the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA)1 allows consideration of the facts and circumstances underly-
Accordingly, I join in the judgment and, with these qualifications, the majority‘s opinion.4
J. WOODFIN JONES
CHIEF JUSTICE
