William Louis Bartlett v. E.S. Alameida, Jr. W.A. Duncan, Warden

William Louis Bartlett is a state prisoner serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for failing to re-register as a sex offender pursuant to California’s sex offender registration statute, Cal. Pen.Code § 290(a)(1)(A). He contends, in his quest for a writ of habeas corpus, that his conviction violates due process because the state was not required to prove that he had knowledge of the lifelong duty to register. The district court denied Bartlett’s petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253, and we reverse and remand.

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William Bartlett was convicted of rape in California in 1983 and…