Opinion
13908, 531/08.
01-08-2015
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Woodrow McNEELY, Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Nancy E. Little of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Nancy E. Little of counsel), for appellant.Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Beth Fisch Cohen of counsel), for respondent.
SWEENY, J.P., ANDRIAS, MOSKOWITZ, RICHTER, CLARK, JJ.
Opinion
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, J.), entered on or about September 13, 2011, which adjudicated defendant a level two sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Correction Law art. 6–C), unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The court properly exercised its discretion when it declined to grant a downward departure (see People v. Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d 841, 994 N.Y.S.2d 1, 18 N.E.3d 701 [2014] ). Defendant's successful completion of sex offender treatment while in prison was adequately taken into account by the risk assessment instrument. Defendant's assertion that he poses a diminished risk of reoffense, and thus should receive a downward departure, is without merit (see People v. Rodriguez, 67 A.D.3d 596, 889 N.Y.S.2d 176 [1st Dept.2009], lv. denied 14 N.Y.3d 706, 2010 WL 1235656 [2010] ). Moreover, neither defendant's age nor his purportedly “stable lifestyle” prior to the underlying conviction warranted a downward departure, given his abhorrent crime of repeatedly raping his own daughter over a period of years.