Georgia Supreme Court building. (Photo: John Disney / ALM)

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that a man who previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting his 6-year-old daughter does not have to register as a sex offender because he was later deemed rehabilitated and pardoned.

In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Michael Boggs, the high court has reversed a Chatham County Superior Court judge who had said Barry Craig Davis was required to inform authorities when he moved from Savannah to Charlotte, North Carolina, after completing his sentence. Defense attorneys for Davis appealed, arguing that he no longer had to inform the Chatham County sheriff of his address and travels because the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles had granted him a pardon.

“A pardon is a declaration of record that a person is relieved from the legal consequences of a particular conviction. It restores civil and political rights and removes all legal disabilities resulting from the conviction,” Boggs wrote. “We therefore hold that inclusion on the sex offender registry pursuant to Georgia Code § 42-1-12 is a legal consequence of the underlying criminal offense and a disability imposed by law; that Davis' pardon by its express terms removed all disabilities under Georgia law resulting from his conviction and relieved all the legal consequences thereof; and that it restored all of his civil and political rights, excepting only his firearm rights.”

So, Davis still can't carry a gun. But, unlike other convicted sex offenders in Georgia, he can live or work near a school, interact with children and travel or relocate without disclosing his location, according to the ruling.

The winning lawyers are Savannah public defenders Amy Lee Ihrig and Robert Lawrence Persse.
On the losing side: Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap. The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia and other district attorneys filed amicus briefs in support of the prosecution's position.

The attorneys were not immediately available for comment.

According to the decision, in 1995, Davis pleaded guilty to the aggravated sodomy of his 6-year-old daughter. Under Georgia law, a person commits sodomy by performing or submitting to a sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another. Aggravated sodomy involves sodomy by force, against a person's will, or with a child younger than 10 years old. Davis was sentenced to 10 years, with the first two to be served in prison. Following his release from prison, Davis served the remainder of his sentence on probation until it ended on July 15, 2005. Under Georgia statutory law (Georgia Code § 42-1-12), Davis was required to register as a sex offender, which he did.

Davis later applied for a pardon. The Georgia Constitution vests the parole board with exclusive power and authority over “executive clemency, including the powers to grant reprieves, pardons, and paroles; to commute penalties; to remove disabilities imposed by law; and to remit any part of a sentence for any offense against the state after conviction,” Boggs wrote. On Feb. 13, 2013, the parole board granted Davis a pardon. According to the court, the board said its investigation had revealed Davis “is a law-abiding citizen and is fully rehabilitated,” and therefore “without implying innocence, hereby unconditionally pardons said individual, and it is hereby ordered that all disabilities under Georgia law resulting from the above stated conviction and sentence … are hereby removed; and ordered further that all civil and political rights, except the right to receive, possess, or transport in commerce a firearm … are hereby restored.”

A month after receiving the pardon, Davis moved from Savannah to Charlotte, North Carolina, without giving notice to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, the court said. Georgia Code § 42-1-12 requires convicted sex offenders to give notice at least 72 hours before moving. When Davis returned to Georgia, the sheriff's office informed Davis of his failure to register and give notice of his plan to move. Davis claimed that his pardon removed the previous requirement for him to register as a sex offender. Nevertheless, the sheriff's office obtained a warrant for Davis' arrest, and on Feb. 26, 2014, the state charged Davis in an indictment with failing to register as a sex offender, which is a felony.

Davis argued that the requirement to register as a sex offender constituted a “legal disability,” which the parole board's pardon had removed. The local judge disagreed. The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the judge, but the high court ruled Monday that the Court of Appeals did not have authority to review the case because the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over constitutional questions. So Boggs, in reversing the trial judge, also vacated the intermediate court's ruling.

The case is State v. Davis, No. S17G1333.