Megan’s Law Eviction Is Upheld by Judge

An Orange County judge Tuesday upheld a Costa Mesa landlord’s right to evict a convicted rapist, setting the stage for a legal battle that could help define the rights of sex offenders under Megan’s Law.

The rapist, Chris Decker, had fought to remain in his apartment despite complaints from neighbors, after police distributed fliers about him under the controversial community-disclosure law.

Megan’s Law allows police agencies to inform residents when a “high-risk” sex offender is living near them. But the law also sets limits on how the information is used and prohibits harassment or discrimination against the offender.

Neighbors expressed relief at Superior Court Judge Geoffrey T. Glass’ ruling. But some civil libertarians and legal experts said it could set a dangerous precedent, allowing sex offenders to be hounded out of one neighborhood after another.

“If we want someone to re-integrate into society, he needs a job, he needs a place to live . . . he needs to be given a chance, or else the person is driven into the fringes,” said Martin Levine, a law professor at USC.

But the landlord’s attorney, Richard Coombs, termed the dispute a “standard eviction case” and said the landlord was simply exercising his right to evict someone who posed a threat to neighbors.

“This shows that the argument that sex offenders are a privileged class of criminal is not going to go very far in the courts,” he said. Coombs argued in court that Decker had a month-to-month lease, and that the landlord needed no reason to evict him.

In testimony last week, the landlord, Robert Stellrecht Jr., said he initiated the eviction after tenants received the fliers and complained. Stellrecht said a few neighbors told him that Decker bothered them with unwanted advances, which Decker’s attorney strongly denied.

A court clerk announced Judge Glass’ ruling Tuesday. The written decision, which is expected later in the week, could begin a legal battle that would test the boundaries of Megan’s Law.

“Megan’s Law was designed to inform the neighborhood of potentially dangerous persons in its midst,” said Robert Pugsley, a professor at Southwestern University School of Law. “It was not designed to result in a continuing series of evictions and removals of these people from their dwellings as long as they remain law-abiding.”

Decker served five years in prison for the 1977 rape of a 31-year-old Garden Grove woman and a sexual assault on a 51-year-old Newport Beach woman.

In September, one day after police posted fliers in the neighborhood identifying him as a “high-risk” sex offender, he was given a 30-day notice to vacate his apartment.

Decker’s attorney, T. Matthew Phillips, said Decker plans to appeal the decision. Decker, who has been serving a four-month prison sentence on a parole violation for drug use, was unavailable for comment.