P. v. Merritt
Defendant Gregory Marcus Merritt, a sex offender who was required to register any change in his residence address with a local law enforcement agency within five working days of making the change (Pen. Code, § 290, subd. (b)),[1] was convicted by a jury of failure to so register (§§ 290.013, subd. (a), 290.018, subd. (b)). He was sentenced to five years in state prison.[2]
On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred when it (1) denied his request for a mistake of fact instruction, the mistake being that his moving from the residence for which he had last registered into an automobile in a parking lot across an alley from that residence was not a change of address; and (2) failed to instruct the jury with the definition of “residence†as provided in section 290.011, subdivision (g). We conclude that under the circumstances of this case defendant was not entitled to a mistake of fact defense, and that any error in instructing the jury on the definition of residence was harmless.
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