Case Name: The People of State of New York, Respondent, v. Daniel Rodriguez, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2015-04-01
Citations: 127 A.D.3d 715
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of State of New York, Respondent, v Daniel Rodriguez, Appellant.
Judges: Skelos, J.P., Roman, Hinds-Radix and LaSalle, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 127
Pages: 715–715

Head Matter:
The People of State of New York, Respondent, v Daniel Rodriguez, Appellant.
[4 NYS3d 537]—

Opinion:
Appeal by the defendant from an order of the County Court, Suffolk County (Kahn, J.), dated February 28, 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.
Once a presumptive risk level has been determined under the Sex Offender Registration Act (see Correction Law art 6-C [hereinafter SORA]), a defendant who requests a downward departure from that 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 AD3d 112, 128 [2011]; see People v Gillotti, 23 NY3d 841, 860-861 [2014]; People v Woods, 125 AD3d 622 [2015]).
Here, the defendant, whose presumptive risk level was three pursuant to an automatic override set forth in the SORA Guidelines, failed to identify any appropriate mitigating factor that would warrant a downward departure from that level. Accordingly, the County Court properly denied the defendant's request for a downward departure to risk level two and adjudicated him a level three sex offender.
Skelos, J.P., Roman, Hinds-Radix and LaSalle, JJ., concur.