Opinion
12700 Ind. No. 0376/17 Case No. 2019-1498
12-22-2020
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Cedric WOLFE, Defendant–Appellant.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Teighlor S. Bonner of counsel), for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Claire E. Nielsen of counsel), for respondent.
Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, New York (Teighlor S. Bonner of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Claire E. Nielsen of counsel), for respondent.
Friedman, J.P., Renwick, Singh, Kennedy, Shulman, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Abraham L. Clott, J. at suppression hearing; Ann E. Scherzer, J. at plea and sentencing), rendered August 16, 2018, as amended September 17, 2018, convicting defendant of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and driving while intoxicated, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender previously convicted of a violent felony, to an aggregate term of six years and a $500 fine, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant made a valid waiver of his right to appeal (see People v. Thomas , 34 N.Y.3d 545, 122 N.Y.S.3d 226, 144 N.E.3d 970 [2019], cert denied ––– U.S. ––––, 140 S. Ct. 2634, 206 L.Ed.2d 512 [2020] ; People v. Bryant , 28 N.Y.3d 1094, 1096, 45 N.Y.S.3d 335, 68 N.E.3d 60 [2016] ). The combination of the court's oral colloquy with defendant and the detailed written waiver sufficiently distinguished the right to appeal from the rights automatically forfeited by a guilty plea. To the extent there was any ambiguity in the oral colloquy, it was resolved by the written waiver. This waiver forecloses review of defendant's suppression and excessive sentence claims.
Regardless of whether defendant made a valid waiver of his right to appeal, we find that the record supports the hearing court's suppression rulings. We also perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.