Opinion
399 KA 19-00884
08-20-2020
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Taylor I. BECKSTEAD, Defendant-Appellant.
CAITLIN M. CONNELLY, BUFFALO, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. KRISTYNA S. MILLS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WATERTOWN, FOR RESPONDENT.
CAITLIN M. CONNELLY, BUFFALO, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
KRISTYNA S. MILLS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WATERTOWN, 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 burglary in the first degree ( Penal Law § 140.30 [2] ). We affirm.
Initially, we emphasize once again that, "[c]ontrary to the People's contention, and as we have previously noted, it is well settled that this Court's sentence-review power may be exercised, if the interest of justice warrants, without deference to the sentencing court ..., and that we may substitute our own discretion for that of a trial court which has not abused its discretion in the imposition of a sentence" ( People v. White , 153 A.D.3d 1565, 1568, 62 N.Y.S.3d 236 [4th Dept. 2017], lv denied 30 N.Y.3d 1065, 71 N.Y.S.3d 15, 94 N.E.3d 497 [2017] [internal quotation marks omitted] ). Nevertheless, the sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.