Opinion
2013-02-6
The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Luis ANDREU, appellant.
Richard L. Herzfeld, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Thomas J. Spota, District Attorney, Riverhead, N.Y. (Marion M. Tang of counsel), for respondent.
Richard L. Herzfeld, New York, N.Y., for appellant. Thomas J. Spota, District Attorney, Riverhead, N.Y. (Marion M. Tang of counsel), for respondent.
Appeals by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the County Court, Suffolk County (R. Doyle, J.), imposed June 20, 2011, as amended July 1, 2011, under Superior Court Information No. 2562/09, and a sentence of the same court imposed June 20, 2011, under Superior Court Information No. 1052/11, on the ground that they are excessive.
ORDERED that the sentence, as amended July 1, 2011, and the sentence imposed June 20, 2011, are affirmed.
Contrary to the People's contention, the defendant's claim that his sentences are excessive need not be preserved for appellate review. Our power to review a sentence as harsh or excessive stems not from our power to review questions of law ( seeCPL 470.15[1] ), but from our interest of justice jurisdiction ( seeN.Y. Const, art VI, § 30; CPL 470.15[3][c]; [6][b]; People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 85–86, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675). Nonetheless, the sentence imposed on the defendant upon his conviction of *622criminal possession of a forged instrument in the first degree ( seePenal Law § 170.30), under Superior Court Information No. 1052/11, is the minimum sentence authorized by statute ( seePenal Law § 70.06[3][c]; [4][b] ). The defendant's other sentence, under Superior Court Information No. 2562/09, is not excessive ( see People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d at 86, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675).