Opinion
108170
03-15-2018
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Basheem BENNETT, Appellant.
Marshall Nadan, Kingston, for appellant. D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Joan Gudesblatt Lamb of counsel), for respondent.
Marshall Nadan, Kingston, for appellant.
D. Holley Carnright, District Attorney, Kingston (Joan Gudesblatt Lamb of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Lynch, J.P., Mulvey, Aarons, Rumsey and Pritzker, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Ulster County (Williams, J.), rendered November 13, 2015, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of murder in the second degree.
In satisfaction of a three-count indictment, defendant pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree and waived his right to appeal. The charges stemmed from defendant entering a night club and fatally shooting the victim, whom he believed had killed a friend, and seriously injuring another person. Pursuant to the terms of the plea agreement, defendant agreed to, among other things, testify at the trial of anyone else involved in the crime in exchange for a sentence of 18 years to life in prison. Thereafter, County Court determined that defendant violated that condition by invoking his Fifth Amendment right and refusing to testify at a subsequent trial. The court, after confirming that defendant did not wish to move to withdraw his plea, sentenced defendant to 25 years to life in prison. Defendant appeals.
Defendant's sole contention—that the sentence imposed was harsh and excessive—is precluded by his unchallenged and valid waiver of the right to appeal (see People v. Lopez, 6 N.Y.3d 248, 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 [2006] ; People v. Brasmeister, 136 A.D.3d 1122, 1123, 25 N.Y.S.3d 694 [2016],lv denied 27 N.Y.3d 993, 38 N.Y.S.3d 103, 59 N.E.3d 1215 [2016] ).
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
Lynch, J.P., Mulvey, Aarons, Rumsey and Pritzker, JJ., concur.