Opinion
06-10-2016
In the Matter of Robert L. GLANOWSKI, Petitioner–Appellant. Frank A. Sedita, III, District Attorney, Erie County, Respondent–Respondent.
Susan Hazeldean, Cornell Law School Clinical Programs, Ithaca, for Petitioner–Appellant. Michael A. Siragusa, County Attorney, Buffalo (Jeremy C. Toth of Counsel), for Respondent–Respondent.
Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Erie County (John L. Michalski, A.J.), entered December 2, 2014. The order denied the petition for a name change.
Susan Hazeldean, Cornell Law School Clinical Programs, Ithaca, for Petitioner–Appellant.
Michael A. Siragusa, County Attorney, Buffalo (Jeremy C. Toth of Counsel), for Respondent–Respondent.
Opinion
MEMORANDUM:
Petitioner appeals from an order denying a petition for a change of name. Supreme Court properly denied the petition. The record establishes that petitioner is under postrelease supervision after being released from incarceration on a conviction of first-degree rape of a child. Petitioner remains subject to a 16–year order of protection and sex offender registration under petitioner's current legal name. The court that denied the petition is the same court that had sentenced petitioner on the conviction, and the proposed name change is further objected to by the office of the Erie County District Attorney, which prosecuted petitioner. We conclude that the name change would create record-keeping problems for law enforcement officials and would create potential danger to the victim and the general public (see Matter of Holman, 217 A.D.2d 1012, 1012, 631 N.Y.S.2d 277 ; Matter of Gutkaiss, 11 Misc.3d 211, 212–213, 806 N.Y.S.2d 402 ; see also United States v. Duke, 458 F.Supp. 1188, 1188–1189 ; see generally Matter of Powell, 95 A.D.3d 1631, 1632, 945 N.Y.S.2d 789 ; Matter of Washington, 216 A.D.2d 781, 781, 628 N.Y.S.2d 837 ). Under the circumstances, the court was properly “satisfied ... that there is [a] reasonable objection to the change of name” and hence a “demonstrable reason not to” grant the petition (Matter of Anonymous, 106 A.D.3d 1503, 1503, 964 N.Y.S.2d 852 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Washington, 216 A.D.2d at 782, 628 N.Y.S.2d 837 ; see generally Civil Rights Law § 63 ).
It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.
WHALEN, P.J., PERADOTTO, LINDLEY, DeJOSEPH, and NEMOYER, JJ., concur.