People v. Covello

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided July 24, 2026·No. 258 KA 25-00511·Published

Opinion

People v Covello - 2026 NY Slip Op 04578
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Law Reporting
Bureau
Thomas J.K. Smith, State Reporter

People v Covello

2026 NY Slip Op 04578

July 24, 2026

Appellate Division, Fourth Department

Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.

This decision is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT,

v

MICHAEL COVELLO, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department

Decided on July 24, 2026

258 KA 25-00511

Present: Montour, J.P., Ogden, Greenwood, Nowak, And Hannah, JJ.

JULIE CIANCA, PUBLIC DEFENDER, ROCHESTER (CLEA WEISS OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

BRIAN P. GREEN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ROCHESTER (MERIDETH H. SMITH OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.

Appeal from an order of the Monroe County Court (Douglas A. Randall, J.), entered December 16, 2024. The order determined that defendant is a level three risk pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act.

[*1]

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from an order adjudicating him a level three risk pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Correction Law § 168 et seq.).

Even assuming, arguendo, that County Court violated defendant's due process rights when it denied his request for an adjournment to prepare a defense to the People's request to assess additional points that were not recommended on the risk assessment instrument (see generally People v Worley, 40 NY3d 129, 134-135 [2023]; People v Lostumbo, 225 AD3d 1277, 1278-1279 [4th Dept 2024]), we conclude that the error is harmless under the circumstances of this case (see People v Baxin, 26 NY3d 6, 11-12 [2015]; People v Lashway, 25 NY3d 478, 484 [2015]). Although the court assessed the points requested by the People in reaching its determination that defendant is a level three risk, the court, in the alternative, determined that defendant's conviction for a prior sex crime warranted an override to a level three risk (see generally People v Edmonds, 133 AD3d 1332, 1332-1333 [4th Dept 2015], lv denied 26 NY3d 918 [2016]).

Entered: July 24, 2026

Ann Dillon Flynn

Clerk of the Court

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People v. Covello, (N.Y. Ct. App. 2026).

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Related

The People v. Steven Lashway
34 N.E.3d 847 (New York Court of Appeals, 2015)
The People v. Jose Martinez Baxin
41 N.E.3d 62 (New York Court of Appeals, 2015)