Opinion
400 KA 16-02127
08-20-2020
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Charlene M. MESS, Defendant-Appellant.
NORMAN P. EFFMAN, PUBLIC DEFENDER, WARSAW (ADAM W. KOCH OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. LAWRENCE FRIEDMAN, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR, BATAVIA (WENDY EVANS LEHMANN OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
NORMAN P. EFFMAN, PUBLIC DEFENDER, WARSAW (ADAM W. KOCH OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
LAWRENCE FRIEDMAN, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR, BATAVIA (WENDY EVANS LEHMANN OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: SMITH, J.P., CARNI, LINDLEY, CURRAN, AND DEJOSEPH, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of manslaughter in the first degree ( Penal Law § 125.20 [1] ). We reject defendant's contention that her waiver of the right to appeal was invalid. The plea colloquy establishes that defendant knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived the right to appeal (see generally People v. Lopez , 6 N.Y.3d 248, 256, 811 N.Y.S.2d 623, 844 N.E.2d 1145 [2006] ). Inasmuch as defendant's valid waiver of the right to appeal specifically included a waiver of the right to challenge the severity of the sentence and defendant was informed of the maximum sentence County Court could impose in its discretion, the waiver encompasses her challenge to the severity of her sentence (see People v. Lococo , 92 N.Y.2d 825, 827, 677 N.Y.S.2d 57, 699 N.E.2d 416 [1998] ; People v. Lasher , 151 A.D.3d 1774, 1775, 57 N.Y.S.3d 814 [4th Dept. 2017], lv denied 29 N.Y.3d 1129, 64 N.Y.S.3d 679, 86 N.E.3d 571 [2017] ).