People v Hebert |
2018 NY Slip Op 05381 [163 AD3d 1299] |
July 19, 2018 |
Appellate Division, Third Department |
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
The People of the State of New York,
Respondent, v Joseph R. Hebert, Appellant. |
Rural Law Center of New York, Castleton (Kelly L. Egan of counsel), for appellant.
Jason M. Carusone, District Attorney, Lake George (Rebecca Nealon of counsel), for respondent.
Egan Jr., J. Appeal from an order of the County Court of Warren County (Hall Jr., J.), entered September 8, 2016, which classified defendant as a risk level three sex offender and a sexually violent offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act.
In March 2011, defendant entered an Alford plea of guilty to sexual abuse in the first
degree arising from an incident in which he forcibly engaged in anal intercourse with a
21-year-old male. As a result, he was sentenced to 3
Initially, defendant contends that he was improperly assessed 15 points under risk factor 12 of the RAI based on his expulsion from a sex offender treatment program because he has a learning disability and was unable to complete the program within the time allotted. We are not persuaded. Defendant's purported cognitive limitations are not substantiated by the record. Rather, it discloses that he successfully completed other programs and was expelled from the program at issue due to "lack of progress/skill." Under the circumstances presented, we find no error in the assessment of points under risk factor 12 (see People v Middlemiss, 153 AD3d 1096, 1097-1098 [2017], lv denied 30 NY3d 906 [2017]; People v Jackson, 134 AD3d 1580, 1581 [2015]).
In any event, regardless of the points assessed under risk factor 12, the Board applied an override based on defendant's undisputed prior felony conviction for a sex crime that presumptively placed him in the risk level three classification. Defendant has not met his burden of demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence that a downward modification was warranted based upon mitigating circumstances that were not taken into account by the RAI (see People v Gillotti, 23 NY3d 841, 861-863 [2014]; People v Middlemiss, 153 AD3d at 1098; People v Scone, 145 AD3d 1327, 1328 [2016]). Therefore, we find no reason to disturb the risk level three classification.
McCarthy, J.P., Lynch, Devine and Aarons, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.