ALTHOUGH COUNTY COURT ISSUED, ENTERED AND FILED A DECISION ADJUDICATING DEFENDANT A LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER, THERE WAS NO LANGUAGE INDICATING THE DECISION WAS A JUDGMENT OR AN ORDER; IN ADDITION, THE RISK ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT DID NOT INCLUDE “SO ORDERED” LANGUAGE; THEREFORE THERE WAS NO APPEALABLE ORDER BEFORE THE COURT AND THE APPEAL WAS DISMISSED (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department dismissed the appeal of County Court’s SORA risk assessment because County Court did not issue an appealable order:
Following a hearing, County Court rejected defendant’s challenge to certain assessed points, adjudicated him as a risk level three sex offender and designated him as a sexually violent offender. Defendant appeals.
An appealable order must be in writing (see CPLR 2219 [a] …), and must contain language that identifies the document as “either a judgment or order of the court”… . Consistent with these mandates, the Sex Offender Registration Act … requires that County Court must “render an order setting forth its determinations and the findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the determinations are based”… . That written order must then be “entered and filed in the office of the clerk of the court where the action is triable” (CPLR 2220 [a] …).
Here, County Court issued a written decision which was subsequently entered and filed. However, the decision contains no language indicating that it is an order or judgment, and it does not appear that a written order was entered and filed … . Moreover, the risk assessment instrument does not contain “so ordered” language so that it may constitute an appealable order … . Accordingly, this appeal is not properly before this Court and must be dismissed … . People v Porter, 2019 NY Slip Op 08743, Third Dept 12-5-19
