Faerydark,

I will reread all this later tonight. I may even call my lawyer friend.

But the agreement in your husband's plea stated ten years registration, and they state did not keep their part of the agreement. Like coolrich said, the fact that the 10 years was specified make a big difference.

The entire point of the ruling was that plea bargains should be treated in a contractual nature.

I still believe, Faerydark, that your husband will get some relief. The retroactivity of these laws which affect older registrant are being challenged and the courts are striking them down.

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If they specified a 10 year registration period, then the ten years was part of the sentence.

Then they basically changed his sentence. I don't see how they can do that.

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Yeah, i read it the same way at first too, but then I re-read it and got confused....sigh, i guess it would be too much trouble to put it in plain English. Yes, if anyone can get it clarified I would be much appreciative. It'll be a few years yet before he would even be able to be off even under 10 years but it would be nice for him to only have to go in once per year and it would give us a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak

As already pointed out this would depend on the exact terms of a negotiated plea and what's contained in the court record. There were several issues reviewed in Benner's case one of which was he claimed he was told by the District Attorney that he would not have to register as a result of the plea. Unfortunately for Benner, there is nothing in the record indicating the DA ever said that:

"Although he contends that he relied on the representation of the District Attorney that he would not be required to register, the record provides no substantiation that the District Attorney ever made such a representation."

Another thing is Benner did not seek enforcement of his plea under contract law principles. He claimed his plea was involuntary and therefore invalid.

The other case did not contest the validity of the plea it only requested that the Commonwealth be forced to abide by the terms of the plea agreement. In other words make them hold up their end of the bargain.

So if the 10 year registration requirement was specifically mentioned as part of the plea agreement and it's on the record the Commonwealth must abide by it. On the other hand if it wasn't a specific part of the plea agreement but just happened to be the law at the time the plea was entered the Commonwealth might be able enforce lengthened registration times

Thank you! I'll have to discuss this with my hubby and see about making it a goal to get a lawyer