Moss

As required by subdivision (a)(1)(A) of Penal Code section 290, defendant Clyde Sherwood Moss registered as a convicted sex offender when he moved to Red Bluff in May 2000. But he failed to update the registration within five working days of his birthday the next year, as required by subdivision (a)(1)(D) of Penal Code section 290. (Further section references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.)

Six working days late, defendant went to the Red Bluff Police Department to update his registration, saying that he had forgotten to do so on time. He was arrested and prosecuted under subdivision (g)(2) of section 290, which makes it a crime to "willfully" violate any sex offender registration requirement of section 290.

At trial, defendant's position was that he simply forgot to update his registration on time and that, when he remembered his obligation to do so, he immediately drove to the police department and attempted to register. However, the court would not allow him to introduce the testimony of four witnesses, corroborated by a Tehama County Mental Health Department report, to establish that he had borderline intellectual functioning and was…