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DEFENDANT, WHO WAS CONVICTED IN VIRGINIA OF THE MURDER OF A 15-YEAR-OLD WITH NO SEXUAL COMPONENT, AND WHO WAS REQUIRED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN VIRGINIA, NEED NOT REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN NEW YORK.

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Andrias, determined requiring defendant to register as a sex offender in New York based upon the murder of a 15-year-old in Virginia violated defendant’s right to substantive due process. Defendant shot and killed his 15-year-old half sister when he was 19. There was no sexual component to the crime. Upon his release from prison after 25 years, defendant, under Virginia law, was required to register as a sex offender (based on the age of the victim). New York has no similar registration requirement. When defendant relocated to New York he was assessed a level three sex offender in a SORA proceeding:

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…[T]he connection between defendant’s crime and the legislative purpose behind SORA is too attenuated to support finding a legitimate governmental interest in applying Correction Law § 168-a(2)(d)(ii) to defendant. The record does not establish a correlation between the murder of a victim under 15 years of age and the propensity to commit sexual offenses. Thus, the legislative purpose of protecting the public from sex offenders is not served by requiring defendant to register as a sex offender in New York pursuant to section 168-a(2)(d)(ii) solely because he is obligated to do so under a broader Virginia statute, which designates the murder of a person under the age of 15, without a sexual component, as an offense subject to registration in a registry that encompasses both sex crimes and crimes against minors.

Requiring such individuals to register as sex offenders in New York also diminishes the registry’s usefulness by including offenders who bear no meaningful relationship to SORA’s legislative purpose. There is no evidence to suggest that one who commits homicide of a minor in Virginia is more likely to commit a sex offense than one who commits homicide of a minor in New York. The statute also fails to consider the harm caused to the individual who is forced to register, even though he or she has committed a crime that has no sexual component. Being labeled as a sex offender does far more than impose a stigma to one’s reputation. It often results in the offender being subjected to social ostracism and abuse, and impedes the person’s ability to access schooling, employment, housing, and many other areas. People v Diaz, 2017 NY Slip Op 02915, 1st Dept 4-13-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (DEFENDANT, WHO WAS CONVICTED IN VIRGINIA OF THE MURDER OF A 15-YEAR-OLD WITH NO SEXUAL COMPONENT, AND WHO WAS REQUIRED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN VIRGINIA, NEED NOT REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN NEW YORK)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA)  (DEFENDANT, WHO WAS CONVICTED IN VIRGINIA OF THE MURDER OF A 15-YEAR-OLD WITH NO SEXUAL COMPONENT, AND WHO WAS REQUIRED TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN VIRGINIA, NEED NOT REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER IN NEW YORK)

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DEFENDANT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ASSESSED POINTS UNDER RISK FACTOR 7, DEFENDANT HAD LONG-TERM NON-SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE VICTIMS BEFORE THE ABUSE STARTED, DEFENDANT DID NOT ESTABLISH THE RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF VICTIMIZATION.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Stein, over a two-judge dissenting opinion, determined defendant should not have been assessed points under risk factor 7. Risk factor 7 applies when a defendant establishes a relationship with a victim for the primary purpose of victimization. Here the victims were the children of defendant’s long-time friends. Defendant had long-term non-sexual relationships with the children before the abuse began:

The People bore the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that defendant promoted his relationship with one or more of the victims for the primary purpose of sexually abusing them (see Correction Law § 168-n [3]…). That burden was not met here. The record reflects that he had long-term, pre-existing relationships with the children, continued those relationships in the role of a close family friend who regularly spent substantial amounts of time with the children and their families, and did not begin to offend against them until the eldest child was approximately 11 years old … . Therefore, the evidence in this record does not support Supreme Court’s determination that defendant “promoted” his relationships with these children for purposes of victimization … , as opposed to redirecting his longstanding close and involved relationships with them in such a way as to allow for sexual abuse. People v Cook, 2017 NY Slip Op 02468, CtApp 3-30-17

 

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WHERE THE RELEVANT OFFENSES WERE COMMITTED IN TWO COUNTIES, NO NEED FOR TWO SORA RISK ASSESSMENT PROCEEDINGS.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Garcia, determined only one SORA risk assessment proceeding should have been held. Defendant had simultaneously pled guilty to crimes committed in two counties. All of the crimes were taken into consideration in the first SORA assessment proceeding:

Where, as here, a single RAI [risk assessment instrument] addressing all relevant conduct is prepared, the goal of assessing the risk posed by the offender is fulfilled by a single SORA adjudication. To hold otherwise — that is, to permit multiple risk level determinations based on conduct included in a single RAI — would result in redundant proceedings and constitute a waste of judicial resources. Here, for instance, once the Division of Criminal Justice Services was notified of the Richmond County SORA court’s determination, “it had the information it needed to serve SORA’s goal of ‘protect[ing] the public from’ this particular sex offender” … . Any further proceedings then became duplicative. People v Cook, 2017 NY Slip Op 02467, CtApp 3-30-17

 

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SORA GUIDELINE WHICH ALLOWS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ADJUDICATION TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE CRIMINAL HISTORY CALCULATION SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED.

The Fourth Department determined the language in the SORA guideline which allows a juvenile delinquency adjudication to be used to calculate points in the criminal history category should not be followed because it conflicts with provisions of the Family Court Act:

The risk assessment guidelines issued by the Board provide that a juvenile delinquency adjudication is considered a crime for purposes of assessing points under the criminal history section of the risk assessment instrument (see Sex Offender Registration Act: Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary [Guidelines], at 6 [2006]). Family Court Act § 381.2 (1) provides, however, that neither the fact that a person was before Family Court for a juvenile delinquency hearing, nor any confession, admission or statement made by such a person is admissible as evidence against him or her in any other court. Section 380.1 (1) further provides that “[n]o adjudication under this article may be denominated a conviction and no person adjudicated a juvenile delinquent shall be denominated a criminal by reason of such adjudication.” Given this conflict between the Guidelines and the plain language of the Family Court Act, we agree with the [2nd] Department[ ] … and conclude that the Board “exceeded its authority by adopting that portion of the Guidelines which includes juvenile delinquency adjudications in its definition of crimes for the purpose of determining a sex offender’s criminal history” … . People v Brown, 2017 NY Slip Op 02323, 4th Dept 3-24-17

CRIMINAL LAW (SORA GUIDELINE WHICH ALLOWS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ADJUDICATION TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE CRIMINAL HISTORY CALCULATION SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (SORA GUIDELINE WHICH ALLOWS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ADJUDICATION TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE CRIMINAL HISTORY CALCULATION SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED)/FAMILY LAW (SORA GUIDELINE WHICH ALLOWS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ADJUDICATION TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE CRIMINAL HISTORY CALCULATION SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED)/JUVENILE DELINQUENCY (SORA GUIDELINE WHICH ALLOWS JUVENILE DELINQUENCY ADJUDICATION TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE CRIMINAL HISTORY CALCULATION SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED) 

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ANOMALY IN GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN AN OVERESTIMATION OF THE CHILD-PORNOGRAPHY-BASED RISK, CASE REMITTED FOR FINDINGS.

The Third Department noted an acknowledged anomaly in the risk assessment guidelines for child pornography that may result in the overestimation of the risk. Because the SORA court did not make any findings about the possible overestimation, the case was remitted:

The Court of Appeals has found that an anomaly exists in assessing points to child pornography offenders under risk factor 7 in the RAI, in that the absence of a previous relationship between the offender and children pictured in pornographic images may not normally heighten the risk that the offender presents to the community, whereas a situation in which “the offender and the children are acquainted would seem to present a greater threat to the community, not a lesser one” … . The Court further concluded that such an anomaly may result in an overestimation of a child pornography offender’s risk of reoffense and danger to the public … . While the Court concluded that, despite the anomaly, the plain language of the guidelines of the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders authorizes the assessment of points against child pornography offenders under risk factor 7, it further stated that, “in deciding a child pornography offender’s application for a downward departure, a [Sex Offender Registration Act] court should, in the exercise of its discretion, give particularly strong consideration to the possibility that adjudicating the offender in accordance with the guidelines point score and without departing downward might lead to an excessive level of registration” … .

In denying the request for a downward departure, County Court found that points were properly assessed under risk factor 7, but did not take into consideration the potential overestimation of defendant’s risk of reoffense and the danger to the public created by the assessment of those points. Accordingly, the matter must be remitted for the court to determine whether such an overestimation was created and whether a downward departure is therefore warranted … . People v Kemp, 2017 NY Slip Op 01618, 3rd Dept 3-2-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT, ANOMALY IN GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN AN OVERESTIMATION OF THE CHILD-PORNOGRAPHY-BASED RISK, CASE REMITTED FOR FINDINGS)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (ANOMALY IN GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN AN OVERESTIMATION OF THE CHILD-PORNOGRAPHY-BASED RISK, CASE REMITTED FOR FINDINGS)/CHILD PORNOGRAPHY (SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT, ANOMALY IN GUIDELINES MAY RESULT IN AN OVERESTIMATION OF THE CHILD-PORNOGRAPHY-BASED RISK, CASE REMITTED FOR FINDINGS)/

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INSUFFICIENT INQUIRY INTO SEX OFFENDER’S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF.

The Second Department determined the judge did not make a sufficient inquiry before allowing the sex offender to represent himself in this SORA proceeding:

Where a defendant makes a timely and unequivocal request to waive the right to counsel and represent herself or himself, “the trial court is obligated to conduct a searching inquiry’ to ensure that the defendant’s waiver is knowing, intelligent, and voluntary” … . “A waiver is voluntarily made when the trial court advises the defendant and can be certain that the dangers and disadvantages of giving up the fundamental right to counsel have been impressed upon the defendant'” … . “A searching inquiry’ does not have to be made in a formulaic manner, . . . although it is better practice to ask the defendant about [her or] his age, education, occupation, previous exposure to legal procedures and other relevant factors bearing on a competent, intelligent, voluntary waiver'” … . …

… [W]e conclude that the Supreme Court failed to conduct the requisite searching inquiry to ensure that the defendant’s waiver of the right to counsel was unequivocal, voluntary, and intelligent … . The court made only minimal inquiry into the defendant’s age, experience, intelligence, education, and exposure to the legal system, and did not explain the risk inherent in proceeding pro se or the advantages of representation by counsel. The court’s failure to conduct a searching inquiry renders the defendant’s waiver of the right to counsel invalid and requires reversal … . People v Griffin, 2017 NY Slip Op 01577, 2nd Dept 3-1-17

 

CRIMINAL LAW (SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT, INSUFFICIENT INQUIRY INTO SEX OFFENDER’S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (INSUFFICIENT INQUIRY INTO SEX OFFENDER’S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF)/ATTORNEYS (SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT, INSUFFICIENT INQUIRY INTO SEX OFFENDER’S REQUEST TO REPRESENT HIMSELF)/

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A SEXUAL OFFENSE WHICH DEFENDANT ADMITTED COMMITTING BUT WITH WHICH HE WAS NEVER CHARGED SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED.

The Third Department determined a sexual offense which defendant admitted committing but with which he was never charged could not be considered in the under risk factor 8:

… [W]e agree with defendant that 10 points were improperly assessed for risk factor 8, his “[a]ge at first sex crime.” The People submitted evidence that the victim had recounted to police that her first sexual contact with defendant had occurred in June 2011, when defendant was 19 years old and she was 13 years old; defendant admitted that this incident had occurred but claimed that the victim had been the aggressor. As defendant pointed out at the SORA hearing, however, he was never charged with or convicted of a crime consisting of that conduct. Under the criminal history section of the RAI, 10 points may be assessed under risk factor 8 where “[t]he offender committed a sex offense, that subsequently resulted in an adjudication or conviction for a sex crime, at age 20 or less” … . The commentary similarly instructs, with regard to risk factor 8, that “criminal convictions [and] youthful offender adjudications  . . . are to be considered in scoring this category, as well as [risk factors] 9 [number and nature of prior crimes] and 10 [recency of prior felony or sex crime]” … . To that end, the commentary specifically indicates that, for purposes of the criminal history section of the RAI, “the term ‘crime’ includes criminal convictions [and] youthful offender adjudications” and that “[c]onvictions for Penal Law offenses and unclassified misdemeanors should be considered” … . The commentary further clarifies that, “[w]here an offender has admitted committing an act of sexual misconduct for which there has been no such judicial determination, it should not be used in scoring his [or her] criminal history” … . …

While proof of the commission of a prior sex crime committed by an offender at age 20 or under that did not result in a conviction or adjudication may be relied upon to argue in favor of an upward departure … , the People did not request this alternative relief from County Court at any point. People v Current, 2017 NY Slip Op 01415, 3rd Dept 2-23-17

CRIMINAL LAW (SORA, A SEXUAL OFFENSE WHICH DEFENDANT ADMITTED COMMITTING BUT WITH WHICH HE WAS NEVER CHARGED SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (A SEXUAL OFFENSE WHICH DEFENDANT ADMITTED COMMITTING BUT WITH WHICH HE WAS NEVER CHARGED SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED)

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PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE DEFENDANT WAS AWARE OF THE VICTIM’S AGE, FACTOR 7 SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE RISK ASSESSMENT.

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the People did not demonstrate the defendant was aware of the victim’s age when establishing the relationship for sexual purposes. The victim indicated she was 18 in her online profile:

… [I]n enacting SORA, the Legislature expressly stated that it was especially concerned with “predatory acts”: “[t]he legislature finds that the danger of recidivism posed by sex offenders, especially those sexually violent offenders who commit predatory acts characterized by repetitive and compulsive behavior, and . . . the protection of the public from these offenders, is of paramount concern or interest to the government” … . This language convinces us that “for the primary purpose of victimization,” as used in risk factor 7 and relevant to this case, requires proof that the defendant knew when establishing or promoting the relationship for sexual purposes that the victim was underage. In cases where the SORA offense is a crime because of the victim’s age, risk factor 7 does not apply to offenders who may have established the relationship for sexual purposes, but without having reason to know the victim’s age at that time … . People v Jordan, 2016 NY Slip Op 08212, 2nd Dept 12-7-16

 

CRIMINAL LAW (SORA, PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE DEFENDANT WAS AWARE OF THE VICTIM’S AGE, FACTOR 7 SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE RISK ASSESSMENT)/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, SORA, PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE DEFENDANT WAS AWARE OF THE VICTIM’S AGE, FACTOR 7 SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE RISK ASSESSMENT)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE DEFENDANT WAS AWARE OF THE VICTIM’S AGE, FACTOR 7 SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE RISK ASSESSMENT)

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GRAND JURY TESTIMONY IS PROPERLY CONSIDERED IN A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING.

The Second Department determined the SORA court properly considered grand jury testimony in assessing the risk level:

The defendant argues that the People’s disclosure of grand jury minutes in this case violated CPL 190.25(4), citing Matter of District Attorney of Suffolk County (58 NY2d 436, 444, 446), which ruled that grand jury minutes cannot be disclosed in a civil proceeding without a demonstration of a “compelling and particularized need” and that it is “impossible” to make a case without the grand jury minutes. However, this argument has been uniformly rejected by the courts … . Correction Law § 168-n(3) states that the court in a SORA proceeding “shall review any victim’s statement,” which includes a victim’s testimony before the grand jury … . Grand jury testimony constitutes reliable hearsay that is sufficient for SORA purposes … . Where grand jury testimony is “undermined by other more compelling evidence,” it need not be credited unless corroborated by other evidence … . However, in this case, no conflicting evidence was submitted. People v Harmon, 2016 NY Slip Op 08210, 2nd Dept 12-7-16

 

CRIMINAL LAW (GRAND JURY TESTIMONY IS PROPERLY CONSIDERED IN A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING)/EVIDENCE (SORA PROCEEDING, GRAND JURY TESTIMONY IS PROPERLY CONSIDERED IN A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRAION ACT (SORA) (GRAND JURY TESTIMONY IS PROPERLY CONSIDERED IN A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING)/GRAND JURY TESTIMONY (SORA PROCEEDING, GRAND JURY TESTIMONY IS PROPERLY CONSIDERED IN A SORA RISK-LEVEL PROCEEDING)

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SORA RISK LEVEL ASSESSMENT REVERSED, DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO COURT’S ASSESSMENT FOR VIOLENCE.

The Third Department, reversing County Court’s risk level assessment, determined defendant was not given a meaningful opportunity to respond to the assessment of points:

A defendant has both a statutory and constitutional right to notice of points sought to be assigned to him or her so as to be afforded a meaningful opportunity to respond to that assessment … . Not only did County Court fail to give defendant notice of its intention to sua sponte assess points for the category of use of violence, it affirmatively misled defendant by its assurance that it had already “made a decision . . . regarding a point score,” which included no assignment of points for that risk factor. Accordingly, defendant was denied due process … . Considering the fact that defendant was never aware of the potential of the assignment of such points until a point in time where he no longer had an opportunity to object — his only remaining opportunity to be heard being explicitly limited to arguing for a downward departure — he need not have taken any further action to preserve the issue for our review … . People v Griest, 2016 NY Slip Op 06907, 33rd Dept 10-20-16

CRIMINAL LAW (SORA RISK LEVEL ASSESSMENT REVERSED, DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO COURT’S ASSESSMENT FOR VIOLENCE)/SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) (SORA RISK LEVEL ASSESSMENT REVERSED, DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO COURT’S ASSESSMENT FOR VIOLENCE)/APPEALS (SORA RISK LEVEL ASSESSMENT REVERSED, DEFENDANT WAS NOT GIVEN A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO COURT’S ASSESSMENT FOR VIOLENCE, NO FURTHER ACTION NECESSARY TO PRESERVE ISSUE FOR APPEAL)

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