People v Sam

People v Sam 2009 NY Slip Op 08595 [67 AD3d 876] November 17, 2009 Appellate Division, Second Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Jerome Sam, Appellant.

—[*1] Robert C. Mitchell, Riverhead, N.Y. (James H. Miller III of counsel), for appellant.

Thomas J. Spota, District Attorney, Riverhead, N.Y. (Ronnie Jane Lamm of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant from an order of the County Court, Suffolk County (Kahn, J.), dated May 9, 2008, 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 failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that there existed a mitigating factor of a kind or to a degree not otherwise taken into account by the guidelines (see People v Jacobs, 61 AD3d 835 [2009]; People v Serrano, 61 AD3d 946, 947 [2009]; People v Abdullah, 31 AD3d 515, 516 [2006]). The factors relied upon by the defendant, alcohol abuse and his relationship with the victim, are expressly addressed in the SORA guidelines (see People v Perez, 61 AD3d 946 [2009]; People v Townsend, 60 AD3d 655 [2009]). The County Court appropriately designated the defendant a level two sex offender and providently exercised its discretion in denying his request for a downward departure. Fisher, J.P., Angiolillo, Eng and Lott, JJ., concur.