Opinion
2017–11768 Ind. No. 4652/15
02-19-2020
The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. KYRA J. (Anonymous), Appellant.
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, N.Y. (Sean H. Murray of counsel), for appellant. Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Jean M. Joyce of counsel; Luc B. Walkington on the memorandum), for respondent.
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, N.Y. (Sean H. Murray of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Jean M. Joyce of counsel; Luc B. Walkington on the memorandum), for respondent.
RUTH C. BALKIN, J.P., CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, JEFFREY A. COHEN, FRANCESCA E. CONNOLLY, PAUL WOOTEN, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER Appeal by the defendant, as limited by her motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court, Kings County (John T. Hecht, J.), imposed September 7, 2017, upon her plea of guilty, on the ground that the sentence was excessive.
ORDERED that the sentence is affirmed.
The defendant's purported waiver of her right to appeal was invalid, as the Supreme Court mischaracterized the nature of the waiver by stating, inter alia, that "no lawyer will be appointed to pursue an appeal for you; no higher Court will review the proceedings, they will become final upon sentence" (see People v. Green, ––– N.Y.3d ––––, ––––, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, ––– N.E.3d ––––, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 08545, *6 [2019] [companion case to People v. Thomas, ––– N.Y.3d ––––, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, ––– N.E.3d ––––, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 08545 ] ). Where, as here, "a trial court has utterly mischaracterized the nature of the right a defendant was being asked to cede, an appellate court cannot be certain that the defendant comprehended the nature of the waiver of appellate rights" (––– N.Y.3d at ––––, ––– N.Y.S.3d ––––, ––– N.E.3d ––––, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op., *6 [internal quotation marks omitted] ). Thus, the purported waiver of the right to appeal does not preclude this Court's review of the defendant's excessive sentence claim (see People v. Fuller, 163 A.D.3d 715, 715, 76 N.Y.S.3d 852 ). However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675 ).
BALKIN, J.P., CHAMBERS, COHEN, CONNOLLY and WOOTEN, JJ., concur.