State of New York

Supreme Court, Appellate Division

Third Judicial Department

Decided and Entered: November 17, 2016 522863 

________________________________

In the Matter of GEORGE WARD,

Appellant,

v MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF

PAROLE,

Respondent.

________________________________

Calendar Date: October 25, 2016

Before: Garry, J.P., Egan Jr., Rose, Devine and Mulvey, JJ.

__________

George Ward, Sonyea, appellant pro se.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Brian D.

Ginsburg of counsel), for respondent.

__________

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Zwack, J.),

entered February 23, 2016 in Albany County, which dismissed

petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR

article 78, to review a determination of the Board of Parole

denying petitioner's request for parole release.

In 1963, petitioner was convicted of murder in the second

degree after he fatally strangled a 76-year-old woman, then stole

money from her apartment and engaged in sex with her corpse. He

was sentenced to a lengthy term of incarceration having a maximum

of life in prison. Petitioner was initially released to parole

supervision in 1975; this attempt failed. His parole was

subsequently revoked, but was restored thereafter, and petitioner

was given additional opportunities to live a law-abiding life. 

Ultimately, in 1990, he was charged with multiple crimes arising

from his forced oral sodomization of two young girls. Petitioner
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thereafter pleaded guilty to two counts of sodomy in the first

degree and was sentenced in 1993 to two concurrent prison terms

of 6 to 18 years, to run concurrently with the remainder of the

sentence that he was serving on his murder conviction. 

Petitioner has subsequently appeared before the Board of Parole a

number of times, the last being his twelfth appearance in

November 2014. At the conclusion of the parole interview, the

Board denied his request for parole release and ordered him held

an additional 24 months. This decision was later affirmed on

administrative appeal. Petitioner then commenced this CPLR

article 78 proceeding challenging the denial and, following

joinder of issue, Supreme Court dismissed the petition. 

Petitioner now appeals. 

We affirm. It is well settled that parole release

decisions are discretionary and will not be disturbed as long as

the Board complied with the statutory requirements set forth in

Executive Law § 259-i (see Matter of Wiley v State of N.Y. Dept.

of Corr. & Community Supervision, 139 AD3d 1289, 1289 [2016];

Matter of King v Stanford, 137 AD3d 1396, 1397 [2016]). Here,

the record reveals that the Board took into consideration the

relevant statutory factors, including the serious nature of

petitioner's sodomy convictions, his commission of these crimes

while on parole, his violent criminal history, his minimal prison

disciplinary record, his positive program accomplishments, his

postrelease plans, the sentencing minutes and the COMPAS Risk and

Needs Assessment instrument (see Matter of Wiley v State of N.Y.

Dept. of Corr. & Community Supervision, 139 AD3d at 1289; Matter

of King v Stanford, 137 AD3d at 1397). Petitioner's claim that

the Board neglected to take into account the sentencing minutes

is belied by the record, which indicates that the minutes were

considered, but do not contain a sentencing recommendation (see

Matter of King v Stanford, 137 AD3d at 1397; Matter of Shark v

New York State Div. of Parole Chair, 110 AD3d 1134, 1134-1135

[2013], lv dismissed 23 NY3d 933 [2014]). Petitioner's remaining

assertions are unavailing. We find, upon review, that the

Board's decision does not exhibit "'irrationality bordering on

impropriety'" (Matter of Silmon v Travis, 95 NY2d 470, 476

[2000], quoting Matter of Russo v New York State Bd. of Parole,

50 NY2d 69, 77 [1980]), and we decline to disturb it.
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Garry, J.P., Egan Jr., Rose, Devine and Mulvey, JJ.,

concur.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.

ENTER:

Robert D. Mayberger

Clerk of the Court