Mentally Ill Phoenix Man Arrested Twice in 24 Hours For Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

By James King Tue., Feb. 7 2012 at 1:52 PM

Categories: News

MCSO

This is James Edward Copeland's mugshot from when he was arrested on Sunday

As if we needed another anecdote about how Arizona fails its mentally ill residents, we bring you the story of James Copeland, a mentally ill convicted sex offender who was arrested twice in 24 hours for failing to register as a sex offender.

Copeland, who's homeless, was arrested on Sunday morning after police found him sleeping in the hallway at an apartment building at 1616 West Adams Street in Phoenix.

According to court records obtained by New Times, a resident called 9-1-1 about 8 a.m. Sunday to report that a black man was sleeping in the hallway.

Police arrived and found Copeland, who told them he knows what trespassing is, but didn't realize he wasn't allowed to sleep in the hallway, which is closed to the public. When police asked him whether he thought sleeping in the hallway counted as trespassing, Copeland responded "it might."

The officer then ran a background check on Copeland and found out that he's a sex offender who was released from prison in October. The officer then asked Copeland if he was a sex offender. He answered "yes, they said I am."

Copeland told the officer that when he was released from prison, he'd provided the address of the overflow shelter at the Central Arizona Shelter Services facility in the 1200 block of West Madison Street in Phoenix as his address for the state's sex offender registry.

However, the last address listed for Copeland on the sex offender registry was the prison in Florence where he'd served more than two years as an inmate.

MCSO

This is Copeland's mugshot from his arrest yesterday morning.

Copeland was booked into jail on one count each of failure to register as a sex offender and trespassing.

About 24 hours after his arrest Sunday, Copeland was back on the streets -- and he was arrested again.

Court records show that police found Copeland "disoriented" and walking in and out of traffic near 300 East Earl Drive in Phoenix.

Copeland told police he was a sex offender and that he hadn't re-registered with the state because he'd been living at the homeless shelter.

Once again, Copeland was arrested. He was again booked on one count of failure to register as a sex offender.

Tags:

arizona, failure to register as a sex offender, james copeland, mental illness

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Phoenix Justice

What was he convicted of? Public indecency? Would be nice to know.

david saint

according to the county court website, class 6 felony for sexual misconduct with minor. Not the usual class 2 designation though, thats interesting..

Follower_of_the_ONE

Would that be considered a broad charge wherein many offenses can be addressed by that one law? Would it be a crime where a lady walking a child would report seeing him urinating on the sidewalk, or maybe a couple kids freaked out because he looked weird or is it more likely a hands-on touch thing? If it is the later it's indefensible and he absolutely needs to register, also shouldn't the state assume some responsiblity in tracking those people in the name of public safety? I'm just askihg, you gentlemen hold the legal knowledge.

Triple-6 Gun Mane

"Would it be a crime where a lady walking a child would report seeing him urinating on the sidewalk,"

If that was a crime. Then I'm wondering why that rabid wing-nut known by the named of Bison Rick "public urinator" Galeener(in nativist circles) is walking around free, all while packing a classic 6er on his ailing hip at numerous pro-arpaio rallies?