EVIDENCE OF OCCASIONAL MARIJUANA USE DID NOT SUPPORT THE ASSESSMENT OF 15 POINTS IN THIS SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING (FIRST DEPT).
The First Department determined the evidence did not support the SORA risk-level assessment of 15 points for drug and alcohol abuse:
Defendant admitted to occasional marijuana use, and there is no evidence that he had smoked marijuana at the time of the offense. The only evidence of prior drug treatment was as a condition of parole, on a nondrug-related conviction, that was completed in 2005. There is no evidence that defendant’s use of marijuana was established as anything more than occasional social use, and accordingly it does not warrant assessment of points under the risk factor for drug abuse. People v Baez, 2021 NY Slip Op 06771, First Dept 12-2-21