Opinion
14830 Ind. No. 966/91 Case No. 2019–2898
12-14-2021
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Angel LOPEZ, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Alma D. Gonzalez of counsel), for appellant. Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Christopher Michael Pederson of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Alma D. Gonzalez of counsel), for appellant.
Darcel D. Clark, District Attorney, Bronx (Christopher Michael Pederson of counsel), for respondent.
Kern, J.P., Kennedy, Scarpulla, Mendez, Shulman, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Raymond L. Bruce, J.), entered on or about March 8, 2019, which denied defendant's Correction Law 168–o (2) petition to modify his sex offender classification to level two, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court providently exercised its discretion in denying a modification of defendant's level three classification, because defendant failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence the requisite basis (see generally People v. Lashway, 25 N.Y.3d 478, 13 N.Y.S.3d 337, 34 N.E.3d 847 [2015] ). While defendant has not been arrested or convicted of a sex crime in more than 30 years, he was convicted of two felonies and numerous misdemeanors during that period. Most of defendant's offenses involved violent conduct. A particularly disturbing aspect of his criminal record is the fact that he was convicted of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation ( Penal Law § 121.11 ) in both 2012 and 2016. Defendant's criminal history reflects an "inability to control his behavior" ( People v. McCormick, 129 A.D.3d 644, 12 N.Y.S.3d 87 [1st Dept. 2015], lv denied 26 N.Y.3d 908, 2015 WL 5972594 [2015] ) notwithstanding the absence of sex crimes. Further, any considerations weighing in favor of a modification are outweighed by the seriousness and nature of defendant's underlying sex crime.