Justice Jill Konviser

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After entering a plea of guilt to Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree as a Sexually Motivated Felony, in full satisfaction of a nine-count indictment pending against him, defendant was sentenced as a second felony offender to a determinate term of imprisonment of three years to be followed by five years post-release supervision. Shortly before his release from state prison, defendant moved to preclude the then-pending Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA”) Risk Level Determination hearing, contending that the crime for which he was convicted does not constitute a “sex offense” for which registration under SORA is required. The People argued that any individual convicted of a Sexually Motivated Felony must register as a sex offender. The court granted defendant's motion, concluding that, on its face, SORA does not include Sexually Motivated offenses from the registration requirements. The court noted that, while the Legislature seemingly intended to require registration for all sexually motivated felonies, that is simply not what the language of the amended statute conveys. The court added that, unless and until the statute is amended, defendant need not register as a sex offender in connection with this matter.

Justice Jill Konviser