Meeks has charges thrown out of court
A man who said he never received mail from the state ordering him to confirm his address with the Tennessee Sexual Offender Registry had charges against him thrown out following a trial Friday amid proof he was telling the truth.
Charges of violation of the terms of the Sexual Offender Registry were dismissed Friday afternoon by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley after evidence was heard in the case against Bobby Meeks.
The charge had been lodged against him by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which had listed him on its sexual offender list since shortly following his conviction on statutory rape charges back in 1999 from an incident involving consensual sex with a teen-age girl.
The charges came after the TBI suspected Meeks was not in compliance with its change-of-address requirement, which mandates any person on the TBI sexual offender registry to report any change of address within 48 hours. Specifically, the registry had sent forms through certified mail to Meeks? official address asking for him to respond so they could validate he was in fact living at the address.
However, the registry did not receive the forms back, instead getting only return receipts showing the mail had been delivered to the address. It was at that point charges were taken against Meeks for non-compliance, with Meeks arguing he had never seen any such correspondence from the state.
It was during trial Friday that it was pointed out it was not Meeks? name signed on the return receipts. Instead, the receipts were signed by other people who had access to the mailbox, tending to confirm Meeks? story that he had never seen the mail from the TBI. The certified mail receipts had been returned but the mail apparently not passed on to Meeks, who was in fact living at the address he had given the state.
Given the irregularity and the specifics of the law, the case against Meeks was thrown out before it went to the jury Friday. It is unknown if charges will be pursued against the person or persons who allegedly returned the receipts to the state without giving Meeks the mail.