People of State of New York, respondent, v. Michael Artis, appellant.
Submitted—February 27, 2018
DECISION & ORDER
Appeal by the defendant from an order of the County Court, Suffolk County (Barbara Kahn, J.), dated March 15, 2017, which, after a hearing, designated him a level two sex offender pursuant to Correction Law article 6–C.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The defendant appeals from his designation as a level two sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act (see Correction Law art 6–C; hereinafter SORA), contending that the County Court should have granted his application for a downward departure from his presumptive risk level designation.
While a defendant's response to sex offender treatment may qualify as a ground for a downward departure where the response is “exceptional” (SORA: Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary at 17 [2006][hereinafter the Guidelines] ), here, the defendant failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that his response to treatment was exceptional (see People v. Carini, 156 AD3d 829, 829–830; People v. Velasquez, 145 AD3d 924, 924; People v. Dyson, 130 AD3d 600, 600–601; People v. Torres, 124 AD3d 744, 746). The defendant failed to identify any other mitigating circumstances that are of a kind or to a degree not adequately taken into account by the Guidelines (see People v. Gillotti, 23 NY3d 841, 861). Accordingly, the County Court properly denied the defendant's application for a downward departure from his presumptive risk level designation.
AUSTIN, J.P., ROMAN, MILLER and CONNOLLY, JJ., concur.
ENTER:
Aprilanne Agostino
Clerk of the Court