Criminal Practice – Sex Offender Registry – Removal Application – Federal Law – Indecent Liberties

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State v. Moir (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-003-17, 31 pp.) (Sam Ervin IV, J.) Appealed from Catawba County Superior Court (Richard Boner, J.) On discretionary review from the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct.

Holding: In deciding whether federal law would permit defendant’s removal from the sex offender registry, the trial court erred in applying the “circumstance-specific approach.” We remand for a determination as to whether G.S. § 14-202.1 is divisible. If so, the trial court should apply the “modified categorical approach”; if not, the trial court should apply the “categorical approach.”

We modify the Court of Appeals’ decision and remand for further proceedings.