Court Not Required to Obtain a New Risk Assessment Instrument After People Filed a Petition for an Upward Modification Based Upon a New Offense Committed In Violation of Defendant’s Probation

Re: the People’s petition for upward modification, the Second Department determined County Court was not required to obtain a new Risk Assessment Instrument (RAI) after the defendant committed a “new” sex crime in violation of his probation.  The petition for upward modification was properly sent to the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders (Board) and the Board properly responded by letter:

Correction Law § 168-o specifies that, upon the receipt of such a petition, “the court shall forward a copy of the petition to the board and request an updated recommendation pertaining to the sex offender” (Correction Law § 168-o[4]). The County Court followed this procedure and received an “updated recommendation” from the Board, in the form of a letter. The RAI, an “objective assessment instrument” created by the Board to assess an offender’s “presumptive risk level” … was designed to assist the courts in reaching an initial SORA determination. Indeed, if a new RAI was completed upon the filing of the People’s petition, it would be almost identical to the initial RAI, in which 10 out of the 15 risk factors addressed the subject sex offense and crimes committed prior to that offense … . Thus, the County Court was not required to obtain a new RAI from the Board in considering the People’s petition for an upward modification pursuant to Correction Law § 168-o(3). People v Williams, 2015 NY Slip Op 04108, 2nd Dept 5-13-15