US v. Kokinda: Due to a pair of state convictions in the 2000s, Kokinda was required to register as a sex offender. He effectively disappeared, and ceased registering. He resurfaced in Elkins, West Virginia, in September 2019, where he was charged with sexual abuse in the third degree after grabbing the buttocks of a girl while pushing her on a swing in a public park. In addition, images of child pornography were found on his phone. Kokinda was charged with failing to register under SORNA. He went to trial, where the Government produced evidence that Kokinda had been in the Elkins area for about a month, staying at various campsites. Kokinda’s defense was that while he had offenses that would require him to register with SORNA, he never “resided” in West Virginia and triggered the registration requirement. He was convicted and sentenced to 63 months in prison, the top of an advisory Guideline range enhanced for committing a sex offense against a minor while failing to register.
On appeal initially the Fourth Circuit affirmed Kokinda’s conviction and sentence, holding that the SORNA guidelines promulgated by the Attorney General were entitled to Chevron deference as to defining the ambiguous term “habitually lives.” The Supreme Court granted cert in the wake of Loper Bright, but on remand the Fourth Circuit reached the same conclusion. The court held that while the regulations are no longer entitled to Chevron deference, under Loper Bright they “provide an accurate construction of the law” and the jury instructions based on them were not erroneous.
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