| People v Appiah |
| 2024 NY Slip Op 00158 [41 NY3d 949] |
| January 16, 2024 |
| Court of Appeals |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| As corrected through Wednesday, April 17, 2024 |
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Kwabena Appiah, Appellant. |
Decided January 16, 2024
People v Appiah, 218 AD3d 1060, reversed.
Steven M. Sharp, Albany, for appellant.
Robert M. Carney, District Attorney, Schenectady (Peter H. Willis of counsel), for respondent.
Memorandum.
The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and the case remitted to that Court for further proceedings in accordance with this memorandum.
Defendant's waiver of the right to appeal was invalid and unenforceable pursuant to our analysis in People v Thomas (34 NY3d 545 [2019]) and People v Bisono (36 NY3d 1013 [2020]). In voting to affirm the judgment, one Justice of the three-Justice Appellate Division majority panel did not reach the merits of defendant's interest-of-justice challenge to the excessiveness of his sentence based on that Justice's conclusion that the appeal waiver was valid (see generally People v Callahan, 80 NY2d 273, 284-285 [1992]). We therefore reverse and remit to the Appellate Division for consideration of the merits of defendant's excessive sentence challenge (see People v Billingslea, 6 NY3d 248, 257 [2006]).
Chief Judge Wilson and Judges Rivera, Garcia, Singas, Cannataro, Troutman and Halligan concur.
On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.11 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.11), order reversed and case remitted to the Appellate Division, Third Department, for further proceedings in accordance with the memorandum herein.