People v. Sanford

130 A.D.3d 486, 13 N.Y.S.3d 412

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: July 9, 2015
• Docket: 15672 30149/13
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Robert M. Mandelbaum, J.), entered September 16, 2013, 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 People presented clear and convincing evidence supporting the assessment of 20 points under the risk factor for number of victims (see People v Mingo, 12 NY3d 563 [2009]). Defendant’s plea covered similar and related conduct committed against at least one additional victim, which supported the hearing court’s finding that there were two victims for purposes of this risk factor. The additional conduct was uncharged, but was reflected in a reliable police report (see People v Epstein, 89 AD3d 570 [1st Dept 2011]; People v Johnson, 77 AD3d 548 [1st Dept 2010], lv denied 16 NY3d 705 [2011]).

The court providently exercised its discretion in declining to grant a downward departure to level one, since the alleged mitigating factors were outweighed by, among other things, defendant’s repeated acts of subjecting women who lived in his building to sexual contact, and his extensive criminal record (see generally People v Gillotti, 23 NY3d 841, 861 [2014]). Concur — Gonzalez, P.J., Friedman, Renwick, Moskowitz and Clark, JJ.