People v. Menelas

133 A.D.3d 731, 19 N.Y.S.3d 186

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: November 18, 2015
• Docket: 2013-11255
• Status: Published

Opinion

Appeal by the defendant from an order of the County Court, Suffolk County (Kahn, J.), dated November 22, 2013, which, after a hearing, designated him a level two sex offender pursuant to Correction Law article 6-C.

Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.

The Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in denying the defendant’s application for a downward departure from his presumptive designation as a level two sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (see Correction Law art 6-C [hereinafter SORA]). Although the defendant met his burden of demonstrating the existence of mitigating circumstances not adequately taken into account by the SORA guidelines, the totality of the circumstances did not warrant a departure to avoid an over-assessment of the defendant’s dangerousness and risk of sexual recidivism (see People v Gillotti, 23 NY3d 841, 861 [2014]). Mastro, J.R, Dickerson, Austin and Maltese, JJ., concur.