California 'three strikes' sentence voided

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- California's attorney general's office says it hasn't yet decided if it will appeal a ruling against a prison term imposed under the state's three-strikes law.

A federal appeals court said a registered sex offender's 28-years-to-life sentence for failing to update his address amounted to a violation of constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

"This is not a case where my client failed to register. He failed to update his address information," said Gia Kim, the attorney for inmate Cecilio Gonzalez.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday the ruling did not address the three-strikes law itself, but found that the sentence imposed on Gonzalez in 2001 constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

The Times said conservative circuit Judge Jay Bybee noted in the opinion that Gonzalez's actions were more oversight than illegal and would not even be considered a crime in 11 states.

Attorney General Jerry Brown's office had no comment on the ruling and would not say if it would be appealed.

Gonzalez received the sentence after missing a deadline to notify police he had moved. The ruling Tuesday by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco remanded the case back to federal court in Los Angeles for resentencing.