Opinion
2014–01533
12-16-2020
PEOPLE of State of New York, respondent, v. Manuel QUINONES, appellant.
Janet E. Sabel, New York, N.Y. (Nancy E. Little of counsel), for appellant. Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Daniel Berman, Leonard Joblove, and Ruth E. Ross of counsel), for respondent.
Janet E. Sabel, New York, N.Y. (Nancy E. Little of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Daniel Berman, Leonard Joblove, and Ruth E. Ross of counsel), for respondent.
REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., BETSY BARROS, FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, VALERIE BRATHWAITE NELSO,N ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER Appeal by the defendant from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ruth Shillingford, J.), dated February 3, 2014, which, after a hearing, designated him a level three sex offender pursuant to Correction Law article 6–C.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The defendant was convicted, upon his plea of guilty, of rape in the first degree. At a hearing pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Correction Law art 6–C [hereinafter SORA] ), the Supreme Court denied the defendant's request for a downward departure from the presumptive risk assessment level and adjudicated the defendant a level three sex offender. The defendant appeals.
A defendant seeking a downward departure from the presumptive risk level has the initial burden of "(1) identifying, as a matter of law, an appropriate mitigating factor, namely, a factor which tends to establish a lower likelihood of reoffense or danger to the community and is of a kind, or to a degree, that is otherwise not adequately taken into account by the [SORA] Guidelines; and (2) establishing the facts in support of its existence by a preponderance of the evidence" ( People v. Wyatt, 89 A.D.3d 112, 128, 931 N.Y.S.2d 85 ; see People v. Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d 841, 861, 994 N.Y.S.2d 1, 18 N.E.3d 701 ; see also Sex Offender Registration Act: Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary at 4 [2006] ). If the defendant makes that twofold showing, the court must exercise its discretion by weighing the mitigating factor to determine whether the totality of the circumstances warrants a departure to avoid an overassessment of the defendant's dangerousness and risk of sexual recidivism (see People v. Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d at 861, 994 N.Y.S.2d 1, 18 N.E.3d 701 ; People v. Champagne, 140 A.D.3d 719, 720, 31 N.Y.S.3d 218 ).
Here, upon weighing the aggravating and mitigating factors presented at the SORA hearing, we agree with the Supreme Court's determination that no departure was warranted and that the risk level three was the appropriate designation under the circumstances.
RIVERA, J.P., BARROS, CONNOLLY, BRATHWAITE NELSON and IANNACCI, JJ., concur.