People v. Hahn

Appeal by the defendant from an order of the County Court, Suffolk County (Kahn, J.), dated May 11, 2016, which, after a hearing, designated him a level one sex offender pursuant to Correction Law article 6-C.

Ordered that the order is affirmed.

The defendant is a former United States Navy service member who was found guilty after a court martial of rape in violation of article 120 (a) (2) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (10 USC § 920 [a] [2]). Following a hearing, the County Court determined that the defendant’s military conviction required him to register as a sex offender in New York pursuant to Correction Law § 168-a (2) (d) (i), and designated him a level one sex offender.

As relevant to this appeal, Correction Law § 168-a directs that a person convicted of an offense in a foreign jurisdiction is required to register in New York when the foreign offense contains “all of the essential elements” of a New York offense that is subject to registration (Correction Law § 168-a [2] [d] [i]), or when the subject offense is “a felony in any other jurisdiction for which the offender is required to register as a sex offender in the jurisdiction in which the conviction occurred” (Correction Law § 168-a [2] [d] [ii]; see Matter of North v Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders of State of N.Y., 8 NY3d 745, 748-749 [2007]).

On appeal, the defendant’s sole contention is that he was not required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Correction Law § 168-a (2) (d) (ii) because the People failed to establish that he was required to register as a sex offender with the Navy. Although the People correctly concede that the defendant’s military conviction did not require him to register as a sex offender pursuant to Correction Law § 168-a (2) (d) (ii) because the Navy does not maintain a sex offender registry (see Matter of North v Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders of State of N.Y., 8 NY3d at 749; People v Kennedy, 7 NY3d 87 [2006]), in this case the County Court determined that the defendant was required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Correction Law § 168-a (2) (d) (i). As the Court of Appeals has noted, Correction Law § 168-a (2) (d) (i) “remains available” as a basis for requiring military offenders to register if the People can prove that the subject military offense “includes all of the essential elements provided for in the New York statutes *1286 described in that subsection” (People v Kennedy, 7 NY3d at 92). The defendant raises no challenge to the court’s determination that the military offense of which he was convicted includes all of the essential elements of a New York offense for which registration is required. Under these circumstances, the court properly determined that the defendant is required to register as a sex offender in New York.