Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Bobby White, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 2016-11-16
Citations: 144 A.D.3d 881
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Bobby White, Appellant.
Judges: Balkin, J.P., Hall, Sgroi and Barros, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 144
Pages: 881–882

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Bobby White, Appellant.
[40 NYS3d 786]

Opinion:
Appeal by the defendant from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Koenderman, J.), dated November 19, 2012, 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.
A court determining a defendant's risk level under the Sex Offender Registration Act (see Correction Law art 6-C; hereinafter SORA), is not permitted to downwardly depart from the presumptive risk level unless the defendant first identifies and proves by a preponderance of the evidence the facts in support of "a mitigating factor of a kind, or to a degree, that is not otherwise adequately taken into account by the SORA Guidelines" (People v Lathan, 129 AD3d 686, 686-687 [2015]; see Sex Offender Registration Act: Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary at 4 [2006]). Here, the defendant failed to prove the existence of such a mitigating factor (see People v Jordan, 142 AD3d 596, 596 [2016]). Accordingly, the Supreme Court correctly denied his request for a downward departure from his presumptive risk level (see id.).
Balkin, J.P., Hall, Sgroi and Barros, JJ., concur.