People v. Samuels

2021 NY Slip Op 06641

People of State of New York, respondent, v. Craig Samuels, appellant.

Nos. 2017-13470, 2017-13471

Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

November 24, 2021

Submitted - October 27, 2021

Patricia Pazner, New York, NY (Anna Kou of counsel), for appellant.

Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove and Jean M. Joyce of counsel; Yael Golan on the brief), for respondent.

MARK C. DILLON, J.P. ROBERT J. MILLER FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY ANGELA G. IANNACCI DEBORAH A. DOWLING, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeals by the defendant from two orders of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Michael J. Brennan, J.), both dated November 15 2017, which, after a hearing, designated him a level three sex offender pursuant to Correction Law article 6-C.

ORDERED that the orders are affirmed, without costs or disbursements.

In February 2001, the defendant was convicted, upon a jury verdict, of rape in the first degree under Indictment No 8373/99 for an incident that took place in 1999. In March 2001, the defendant was convicted, upon his plea of guilty, of rape in the first degree (three counts), sodomy in the first degree (three counts), and other lesser offenses under Indictment No. 3437/00 for incidents that took place in 1997. The convictions under both indictments were based upon incidents in which the defendant committed acts of sexual violence against women by using physical force and, in one case, forcibly raping the victim at knifepoint.

In anticipation of the defendant's release from prison in December 2017, the Supreme Court conducted a hearing pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (Correction Law art 6-C; hereinafter SORA). In connection with the defendant's conviction under Indictment No. 8783/99, the court assessed 100 points, resulting in a presumptive designation as a level two sex offender. However, the court granted the People's request for an upward departure and designated the defendant a level three sex offender, over the defendant's objection. In connection with the defendant's convictions under Indictment No. 3437/00, the court assessed 120 points, resulting in a presumptive level three sex offender designation. The court denied the defendant's request for a downward departure to a level two sex offender designation.

"A departure from the presumptive risk level is generally the exception, not the rule" (People v Murgo, 185 A.D.3d 974, 974), and "[w]here the People seek an upward departure, they must identify an aggravating factor that tends to establish a higher likelihood of reoffense or danger to the community not adequately taken into account by the Guidelines, and prove the facts in support of the aggravating factor by clear and convincing evidence" (id. at 974). If the People meet this burden, the court must then "'exercise its discretion by weighing the aggravating and [any] mitigating factors to determine whether the totality of the circumstances warrants a departure to avoid an over- or under-assessment of the defendant's dangerousness and risk of sexual recidivism'" (People v Barnes, 189 A.D.3d 1273, 1274, quoting People v Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d 841, 861; see People v Hightower, 197 A.D.3d 742; People v Kent, 175 A.D.3d 561, 563).

"A defendant seeking a downward departure from the presumptive risk level has the initial burden of '(1) identifying, as a matter of law, an appropriate mitigating factor, namely, a factor which tends to establish a lower likelihood of reoffense or danger to the community and is of a kind, or to a degree, that is otherwise not adequately taken into account by the [SORA] Guidelines; and (2) establishing the facts in support of its existence by a preponderance of the evidence'" (People v McKinney, 173 A.D.3d 1074, 1075, quoting People v Wyatt, 89 A.D.3d 112, 128; see Sex Offender Registration Act: Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary at 4 [2006] [hereinafter Guidelines]). If the defendant makes that twofold showing, the court must exercise its discretion by weighing the mitigating factor to determine whether the totality of the circumstances warrants a departure to avoid an overassessment of the defendant's dangerousness and risk of sexual recidivism (see People v Gillotti, 23 N.Y.3d at 861; People v Champagne, 140 A.D.3d 719, 720).

Here regarding Indictment No. 8373/99, the People presented clear and convincing evidence that the defendant's convictions under Indictment No. 3437/00 constituted aggravating circumstances of a kind not adequately taken into account by the Guidelines (see People v Belle, 193 A.D.3d 989, 990; People v Barnes, 189 A.D.3d at 1274). Further, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in determining that the convictions under Indictment No. 3437/00, the sentences for which were served concurrently with the sentence imposed on the conviction under Indictment No. 8373/99, and the interests of public safety warranted an upward departure from the presumptive risk level to avoid an underassessment of the...