LOCKPORT – A Middleport sex offender will remain rated Level 3, the most serious classification, despite a Court of Appeals ruling in his favor last month.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled Friday against Neil F. Gillotti, 25, who was kicked out of the Air Force in 2008 after child pornography was found on two military computers.
The state’s highest court ruled 5-2 last month that the Appellate Division used the wrong standard of proof in upholding a 2011 ruling by Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III that even though Gillotti’s score on the state classification system placed him in Level 1, the least serious, he deserved to be bumped up to Level 3 anyway.
The Court of Appeals said a “preponderance of the evidence” standard should have been used, which is less stringent than the “clear and convincing evidence” standard the Appellate Division used on Gillotti.
The Appellate Division retorted Friday that Gillotti failed to show any preponderance of evidence in favor of a lower classification, and kept him at Level 3.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled Friday against Neil F. Gillotti, 25, who was kicked out of the Air Force in 2008 after child pornography was found on two military computers.
The state’s highest court ruled 5-2 last month that the Appellate Division used the wrong standard of proof in upholding a 2011 ruling by Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III that even though Gillotti’s score on the state classification system placed him in Level 1, the least serious, he deserved to be bumped up to Level 3 anyway.
The Court of Appeals said a “preponderance of the evidence” standard should have been used, which is less stringent than the “clear and convincing evidence” standard the Appellate Division used on Gillotti.
The Appellate Division retorted Friday that Gillotti failed to show any preponderance of evidence in favor of a lower classification, and kept him at Level 3.