Summary
This appellate decision reviews the defendant's appeal from a County Court order designating him a Level Two sex offender under New York's Sex Offender Registration Act following his conviction for multiple sexual offenses. The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court's denial of a downward departure to Level One, finding that the defendant failed to establish age or participation in treatment as appropriate mitigating factors warranting a reduction. The court concluded that the trial court providently exercised its discretion in assessing the presumptive risk level based on the totality of the circumstances.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court erred in denying Cronin’s application for a downward departure from the presumptive level two sex offender designation under the Sex Offender Registration Act.
Holdings
- The appellate court affirmed the lower court’s order, holding that Cronin failed to satisfy the statutory burden of identifying and proving an appropriate mitigating factor, and therefore the level two designation stands.
Key quotations
“'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 ... Guidelines; and (2) establishing the facts in support of its existence by a preponderance of the evidence.'”
Factual background
William Cronin was convicted of sodomy in the first degree, course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. He received a 21‑year determinate sentence followed by five years of post‑release supervision. At a Sex Offender Registration Act hearing he was assessed 105 points, resulting in a presumptive level two sex offender designation, and his request for a downward departure to level one was denied.
Procedural history
The defendant was convicted after a jury trial of multiple sexual offenses and sentenced to 21 years imprisonment. After a SORA hearing the trial court assessed him at a presumptive level two risk and denied his request for a downward departure.