Arthur v. United States (D.C. Ct. App. 2021)

Arthur v. United States, No. 19-CF-5 (D.C. Ct. App. 2021)

Nature of Case: Appellant had been convicted in 1991 in Maryland of sex offenses and was subsequently required to register on the passage of SORNA laws. Appellant was thereafter charged with failing to register under the District of Columbia’s SORNA law and sought to dismiss the charges on the basis that as applied to him they violated the constitutional prohibitions against Ex Post Facto laws. The trial court denied the motion, Appellant was convicted, and sought review.

Holding: The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that the challenged provisions did not violate Ex Post Facto prohibitions as applied to Appellant.