Opinion
16998 Ind. No. 2740/13 Case No. 2022–00050
12-29-2022
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Victor CASTILLO, Defendant–Appellant.
Justine M. Luongo, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Denise Fabiano of counsel), for appellant. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Emily N. Gault of counsel), for respondent.
Justine M. Luongo, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Denise Fabiano of counsel), for appellant.
Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Emily N. Gault of counsel), for respondent.
Manzanet–Daniels, J.P., Oing, Singh, Moulton, Mendez, JJ.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Thomas Farber, J.), entered on or about January 4, 2022, which adjudicated defendant a level two sexually violent offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Correction Law art 6–C), unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court providently exercised its discretion when it declined to grant a downward departure (see generally People v. Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d 841, 861, 994 N.Y.S.2d 1, 18 N.E.3d 701 [2014] ). The defendant's disciplinary record while incarcerated, his successful completion of sex offender treatment and other prison programming, his lack of criminal history, and his relationship with his victim were adequately taken into account by the risk assessment instrument (see People v. Concevalerio, 197 A.D.3d 1050, 151 N.Y.S.3d 866 [1st Dept. 2021], lv denied 38 N.Y.3d 901, 2022 WL 803632 [2022] ). Additionally, defendant's low Static–99 and COMPAS scores had only limited probative value and did not warrant a downward departure (see People v. Roldan, 140 A.D.3d 411, 30 N.Y.S.3d 871 [1st Dept. 2016], lv denied 28 N.Y.3d 904, 2016 WL 5001245 [2016] ). It was also within the court's discretion to reject general research studies about recidivism rates that were insufficiently connected to defendant's specific risk of reoffense. In any event, the claimed mitigating factors were outweighed by the seriousness of defendant's sexual conduct against a child.