PEOPLE v. JONES (2023)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Raymond L. Bruce, J.), entered on or about October 1, 2021, which denied defendant's Correction Law § 168–o(2) petition to modify his sex offender classification from level three to level one or two, unanimously modified, on the facts and in the exercise of discretion, to the extent of designating defendant a level two sex offender, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.

An order denying the modification of a sex offender classification is appealable under the general principles relating to civil appeals contained in CPLR 5701(a) (People v. Shaljamin, 164 A.D.3d 1169, 82 N.Y.S.3d 406 [1st Dept. 2018]).

Based on the particular circumstances of this case, including the evidence of rehabilitation set forth by the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders in its recommendation for a modification to level two, we find, in the exercise of our discretion, that defendant's situation has changed in the decades following his initial SORA adjudication to a degree warranting such a modification (see People v. Davis, 179 A.D.3d 183, 189, 115 N.Y.S.3d 350 [2d Dept. 2019]).