People v. Wells CA1/5

DISCUSSION

I. Wells’s Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claim Fails In Hofsheier, the California Supreme Court held mandatory sex offender registration for those convicted of voluntary oral copulation with a 16- or 17-year-old minor violated equal protection. (Hofsheier, supra, 37 Cal.4th at pp. 1192-1193.) Hofsheier created a class of persons who might be entitled to relief from the mandatory sex offender registration requirement. (See People v. Picklesimer (2010) 48 Cal.4th 330, 336-337.) Our high court later held persons no longer in custody, whose appeals are final, must file a petition for writ of mandate in the trial court to obtain Hofsheier relief. (Id. at p. 335.) In early 2015, however, our high court overruled Hofsheier and held the mandatory lifetime sex offender registration requirement for those convicted of oral copulation with a minor under 16 (§ 288a, subd. (b)(2)) does not violate equal protection. (Johnson v. Department of Justice (2015) 60 Cal.4th 871, 888 (Johnson).) Wells contends trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to file a writ petition seeking relief under Hofsheier from the mandatory sex offender registration requirement. To prevail…