INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE DEFENDANT SEX OFFENDER WAIVED HIS PRESENCE AT THE SORA RISK ASSESSMENT HEARING, ISSUE CONSIDERED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE, NEW HEARING ORDERED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, exercising its interest of justice appellate jurisdiction, determined the evidence that defendant waived his presence at the SORA risk assessment hearing was insufficient. A new hearing was ordered:
A sex offender facing risk level classification under SORA has a due process right to be present at the SORA hearing… . “To establish whether a defendant, by failing to appear at a SORA hearing, has waived the right to be present, evidence must be shown that the defendant was advised of the hearing date, of the right to be present at the hearing, and that the hearing would be conducted in his or her absence” … . Reliable hearsay evidence, such as an affidavit, is admissible to establish waiver … . Here, the sole “evidence” that the defendant waived the right to be present was the statement by the court that it was informed off-the-record by the New York City Police Department Sex Offender Monitoring Unit that the defendant resided at an address in Manhattan and that notice of the hearing was sent to that address and not returned as undeliverable. There was no evidence, hearsay or otherwise, that the defendant expressed a desire to forgo his presence at the hearing … . The fact that defense counsel had “no evidence to indicate” that the defendant did not receive notice of the hearing was not sufficient to indicate a waiver. People v Barney, 2019 NY Slip Op 00153, Second Dept 1-9-19