Opinion
No. 465 KA 22-00049
06-09-2023
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT, v. DAVID W. FREE, JR., DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
KATHLEEN E. CASEY, BARKER, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. BRIAN D. SEAMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, LOCKPORT (THOMAS H. BRANDT OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
KATHLEEN E. CASEY, BARKER, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
BRIAN D. SEAMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, LOCKPORT (THOMAS H. BRANDT OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: PERADOTTO, J.P., BANNISTER, MONTOUR, AND GREENWOOD, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the Niagara County Court (Matthew J. Murphy, III, J.), rendered December 13, 2021. The judgment convicted defendant upon a plea of guilty of attempted course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree.
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of attempted course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 130.75 [1] [b]), defendant contends that his waiver of the right to appeal is invalid and that his sentence is unduly harsh and severe. Even assuming, arguendo, that defendant's waiver of the right to appeal is invalid and therefore does not preclude his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see People v Terry, 203 A.D.3d 1578, 1578 [4th Dept 2022], lv denied 38 N.Y.3d 1010 [2022]), we perceive no basis in the record to exercise our power to modify the sentence as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice (see CPL 470.15 [6] [b]).