People v. Houston

Appeal by the defendant from an order of the Supreme Court, Kangs County (Dwyer, J.), dated March 20, 2013, 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.

Under the Sex Offender Registration Act (hereinafter SORA), a court must follow three analytical steps to determine whether to downwardly depart from the presumptive risk level. First, the court must decide whether the mitigating circumstances alleged by the defendant are, as a matter of law, of a kind or to a degree…