Defendant is convicted of sexual assault of child. Defendant fails to register as required by statute, is arrested and indicted. Appointed counsel hunts down original victim who has since recanted (Says his dad is the actual perp who made him accuse someone else.)

My immediate reaction(and defense counsel admits the same) is that such testimony is inadmissible in guilt/innocence. But defense says it is admissible and relevant in punishment.

Any thoughts?

Can't remember case or statute, but, as i recall, claims of innocence are not admissible at punishment.

And hey Rachel. Haven't seen you since you left Nac.

How is it relevant to punishment? The only thing that matters is his status as a sex offender -- that he had a reportable conviction. Even a pending appeal doesn't affect that status for these purposes. So even if he could conclusively prove at punishment that he was innocent of the underlying offense, that doesn't affect the fact that he had the conviction at the time he failed to register. I don't see any relevance.