People v Guzman |
2023 NY Slip Op 02811 [216 AD3d 1371] |
May 25, 2023 |
Appellate Division, Third Department |
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
The People of the State of New York,
Respondent, v Alexander R. Guzman, Appellant. |
Marlene O. Tuczinski, Chatham, for appellant.
Michael D. Ferrarese, District Attorney, Norwich (Bridget Rahilly Steller of New York Prosecutors Training Institute, Inc., Albany, of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Chenango County (Frank B. Revoir Jr., J.), rendered August 24, 2020, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of burglary in the third degree (two counts).
In full satisfaction of a four-count indictment, defendant agreed to plead guilty to
two counts of burglary in the third degree with the understanding that he would be
sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 2 to 6 years and 1
The People concede, and our review of the record confirms, that defendant's waiver of the right to appeal is invalid. County Court's brief advisement that defendant "normally . . . would have the right to appeal [his] plea and [his] sentence" was insufficient to convey the separate and distinct nature of the right to appeal and fell short of "ensur[ing] that defendant appreciated the nature and consequences of the rights that [he] was relinquishing" (People v Crispell, 203 AD3d 1393, 1394 [3d Dept 2022]; see People v Atutis, 214 AD3d 1264, 1265 [3d Dept 2023]). Such deficiencies were not cured by the written waiver executed at sentencing (compare People v Demuth, 208 AD3d 1537, 1537-1538 [3d Dept 2022]). Accordingly, defendant's challenge to the severity of the sentence is not precluded (see People v Kimball, 213 AD3d 1028, 1029 [3d Dept 2023]). That said, we do not find the agreed-upon terms of imprisonment to be unduly harsh or severe (see CPL 470.15 [6] [b]), and we decline defendant's invitation to reduce his sentence in the interest of justice.
Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Reynolds Fitzgerald, Ceresia and McShan, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.