Sex offender represents himself in criminal trial

EPHRATA — A convicted sex offender is representing himself and attempting to prove his innocence before a Grant County jury.

Amel Dalluge, 37, is on trial for failure to register as a sex offender and has chosen to represent himself, with defense attorney Robert Kentner acting in the capacity of standby counsel, before a jury.

Dalluge was convicted of third-degree rape and third-degree rape by complicity in the late 1990s and has been registered as a sex offender since his release date. State laws dictate a number of different requirements sex offenders must follow in order to be in compliance. One such requirement is not being convicted of any disqualifying crimes 10 years after they are released from incarceration. Those 10 years reset following a conviction and after Dalluge’s release from incarceration he went on to be convicted of two crimes, the last of which occurred in 2012 and started the 10-year clock over again.

Dalluge isn’t challenging that he is still required to be in compliance with sex offender laws. He is challenging the basis for the state’s case, which relates to Dalluge becoming homeless at the end of March 2017. During her opening statement Deputy Prosecutor Kate Mathews told the jury because of Dalluge’s status as a sex offender, he was required to notify the Grant County Sheriff’s Office of his change of address within three days of the change.

Dalluge sent a letter to Deputy Greg Hutchison, who was overseeing matters related to sex offenders, in that three day time frame and explained the situation and said they needed to get in touch. In the letter, which was read during court on Thursday, Dalluge does not formally mention a change of address, which is required to be disclosed.

“One of the things you will later be asked to determine is, was that sufficient notice of a change of address?” Mathews asked the jury.

“All I did was write up a letter. That’s it. There’s nothing fancy. It was totally within the three business days they are going to tell you I had to comply with this. I was there physically. I gave them the notice as far as I was concerned,” Dalluge remarked during his opening statement on Thursday.

In addition to the previously mentioned requirements for sex offenders, if the offender in question is homeless they are required to report back to the sheriff’s office on a weekly basis and fill out a form in which they list the physical address at which they slept each night the previous week. Mathews told the jury that while Dalluge did frequently appear at the sheriff’s office in Ephrata and hand in documents, he did not disclose on any of the documents where he was staying each night.

“Mr. Dalluge will argue (his actions) fulfill the statute and the state argues (his actions) were dancing around it. And the registration requirement was there,” Mathews remarked.

A key witness for the state claimed Dalluge was fully aware of the requirements expected of a sex offender and he complied with them for a number of years.

“I filled out the forms as best I could. I asked for help. At the very bottom I left my contact information as I’m supposed to and at any time they could have asked questions. They could have left a message and said ‘hey this is a problem.’ They never did,” Dalluge told the jury.

Dalluge also went on to claim he didn’t necessarily understand the requirements of documenting where he slept each night when he was homeless.

“I thought it was your whereabouts,” Dalluge explained. “A lot of times, like I say, I would just walk around at night. Just keep walking.”

Testimony is expected to continue today, after which the jury will begin their deliberations.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.