Court rejects sex offender case
Idaho justices decline to rule on rights issue
BOISE – The Idaho Supreme Court has sidestepped a decision on whether a rule allowing sex offenders to have attorneys during court-appointed psycho-sexual evaluations is retroactive.
If the high court had sided with sex offender Jerry Vavold on the case, the sentences of sex offenders statewide could have been called into question.
But the Idaho Supreme Court justices declined to rule on the retroactivity matter, instead saying Vavold didn’t make his request for post-conviction relief within the one-year period required under state law.
Vavold was sentenced in 1999 to five to 20 years in prison for lewd conduct with a minor after a 2nd District judge decided his evaluation showed he was likely to commit crimes again. He appealed after the Idaho Supreme Court said in 2007 that another sex offender, Krispen Estrada, should be given his new sentence because he was denied his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during his presentence investigation.