People v Guasp
2012 NY Slip Op 03766 [95 AD3d 608]
May 15, 2012
Appellate Division, First Department
As corrected through Wednesday, June 27, 2012


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

[*1]Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Joanne Legano Ross of counsel), forappellant.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Karinna M. Arroyo of counsel), forrespondent.

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Thomas Farber, J.), entered on or about July 27,2010, which adjudicated defendant a level two sex offender pursuant to the Sex OffenderRegistration Act (Correction Law art 6-C), unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The court properly assessed 15 points under the risk factor for drug or alcohol abuse. Thiswas established by the results of a screening test for alcoholism and defendant's admissions tocorrections officials regarding his drug use (see e.g. People v Johnson, 77 AD3d 548 [2010], lv denied 16NY3d 705 [2011]).

In any event, regardless of whether defendant's correct point score was 55, as he claims, or70, as the court found, the record supports the court's discretionary upward departure to leveltwo. The court properly determined that although defendant received points relating to the factsof the underlying sex crime, the risk assessment instrument failed to adequately take into accountthe crime's unusual brutality and heinous quality (see e.g. People v Miller, 48 AD3d 774[2008], lv denied 10 NY3d 711 [2008]; People v Sanford, 47 AD3d 454 [2008], lv denied 10 NY3d707 [2008]). These aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors cited by defendant.Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Catterson, Moskowitz, Richter and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.


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