Marcus Jurmil Blake breathed a sigh of relief. The 33-year-old from Kelly was not returning to prison.
A jury Wednesday found Blake not guilty of failing to report a new address of a registered sex offender after hearing two days of testimony in Bladen County Superior Court.
Blake has been required to register as a sex offender since 2008 after being convicted of felonious attempted restraint of a minor. He has had no previous reported sex offender registry violations, according to N.C. Department of Public Safety records. Registered sex offenders are required to notify the local sheriff’s office within three business days of any change of address.
The case began on Halloween night in 2015 when Blake was stopped by a Bladen County Sheriff’s Office deputy while driving. Blake did not have a valid driver’s license, but did have an ID card. He was given a citation, according to testimony during the trial.
Upon further investigation, it was learned that Blake was a registered sex offender and, authorities believed based on the report from the traffic stop, that he was not living at 111 Ranch Circle in Kelly as required. According to the report, Blake told the officer that he was living in Fayetteville. Blake testified Wednesday that he told the officer that he was “heading to Fayetteville” to attend a party.
Sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Kevin Hunsinger went to 111 Ranch Circle to check whether Blake was living at the residence, according to testimony. Blake wasn’t at the residence, but, Blake’s brother, Stan Johnson, told Hunsinger that Blake lived in Fayetteville, according to the officer’s testimony.
Blake testified Wednesday that he was living at the home, but often traveled for his work installing solar panels. The company would house the employees at a hotel during the week and, Blake testified, he would return home on weekends.
Blake’s defense showed copies of electric bills and hospital bills that showed Blake’s address as 111 Ranch Circle. He got a new driver’s license earlier this year that showed the Kelly-based address.
The prosecution countered that all that proved was that was the address that Blake gave. Those agencies couldn’t prove Blake was living there.
“(Blake) has been compliant with everything he is supposed to do,” Blake’s lawyer, Wes Johnson, of Elizabethtown, said in his closing argument to the jury. “He was living where he was supposed to live. He did not willfully fail to comply.”
Johnson reminded jurors that Blake “was honest with you and not trying to hide” that he had previous criminal record and has been incarcerated on other charges besides the charge that resulted in him having to register as a sex offender.
“The state has not provided enough evidence to convict a man,” Johnson said. “Wouldn’t you have liked to have seen (law enforcement) go to the residence several times or follow his car to see where he goes at night, or put surveillance on 111 Ranch Circle? They didn’t do that.”
Assistant District Attorney Quintin McGee, in his closing argument, told jurors that on the night Blake was stopped that the officer testified that Blake said he lived in Fayetteville, but didn’t know the address. “He didn’t want to tell them,” McGee said, “so they couldn’t verify it.”
When Sgt. Hunsinger went to 111 Ranch Circle to check whether Blake was living there, neither Blake’s brother nor mother made any effort to show that he was living there, McGee said. “They could have showed where he kept his clothes or where his bed was, but they didn’t do that because he wasn’t living there.
“Mr. Blake does what he wants when he wants, but you don’t get to do that when you’re a registered sex offender,” McGee said. “At some point, its about personal responsibility. Mr. Blake put himself this position. He was bound by law (to report his address) and he didn’t do it.”
The jury deliberated for about an hour before returning their verdict of not guilty.
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