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People v. Brown

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.
Dec 28, 2017
156 A.D.3d 1248 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017)

Opinion

107878

12-28-2017

The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Alex BROWN, Appellant.

Stephen W. Herrick, Public Defender, Albany (Theresa M. Suozzi of counsel), for appellant. P. David Soares, District Attorney, Albany (Vincent Stark of counsel), for respondent.


Stephen W. Herrick, Public Defender, Albany (Theresa M. Suozzi of counsel), for appellant.

P. David Soares, District Attorney, Albany (Vincent Stark of counsel), for respondent.

Before: McCarthy, J.P., Rose, Devine, Mulvey and Rumsey, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Rumsey, J.Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Albany County (Lynch, J.), rendered August 11, 2015, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of robbery in the first degree.

Defendant waived indictment and agreed to be prosecuted by a superior court information charging him with robbery in the first degree. He pleaded guilty to this crime and waived his right to appeal, both orally and in writing. He was sentenced, in accordance with the terms of the plea agreement, to 10 years in prison and five years of postrelease supervision. He now appeals.

Initially, we note that defendant's waiver of the right to appeal is valid. County Court explained that the right to appeal was distinct from the trial-related rights forfeited by the guilty plea, and the record further reflects that defendant, after discussion with defense counsel, executed a written appeal waiver in open court and acknowledged that he understood it (see People v. Baxter, 154 A.D.3d 1010, 1011, 60 N.Y.S.3d 855 [2017] ; People v. Hess, 150 A.D.3d 1560, 1560, 55 N.Y.S.3d 780 [2017] ; People v. Pixley, 150 A.D.3d 1555, 1556–1557, 56 N.Y.S.3d 578 [2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 952, 67 N.Y.S.3d 136, 89 N.E.3d 526 [2017] ; People v. White, 145 A.D.3d 1324, 1324–1325, 44 N.Y.S.3d 247 [2016] ). The valid appeal waiver precludes defendant's challenge to the severity of his sentence (see People v. Hess, 150 A.D.3d at 1560, 55 N.Y.S.3d 780 ; People v. White, 145 A.D.3d at 1324–1325, 44 N.Y.S.3d 247 [2016] ).

Although defendant's valid waiver of the right to appeal does not preclude his claim that his guilty plea was not knowing, voluntary and intelligent, this claim has not been preserved for our review as the record does not reveal that he made an appropriate postallocution motion (see People v. Dubois, 150 A.D.3d 1562, 1563, 55 N.Y.S.3d 513 [2017] ; People v. Cooks, 150 A.D.3d 1323, 1324, 51 N.Y.S.3d 433 [2017] ). Moreover, the narrow exception to the preservation requirement is inapplicable as defendant did not make any statements during the plea colloquy that cast doubt upon his guilt or otherwise called into question the voluntariness of his plea (see People v. Dubois, 150 A.D.3d at 1563, 55 N.Y.S.3d 513 ; People v. Cooks, 150 A.D.3d at 1324, 54 N.Y.S.3d 190 ).ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

McCarthy, J.P., Rose, Devine and Mulvey, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Brown

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.
Dec 28, 2017
156 A.D.3d 1248 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017)
Case details for

People v. Brown

Case Details

Full title:The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Alex BROWN, Appellant.

Court:Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

Date published: Dec 28, 2017

Citations

156 A.D.3d 1248 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017)
65 N.Y.S.3d 811
2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 9204

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