Opinion
220 KA 16-01275
03-16-2018
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT, v. TYLEE D. GAINES, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
THE LEGAL AID BUREAU OF BUFFALO, INC., BUFFALO (MICHAEL S. DEAL OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. LAWRENCE FRIEDMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BATAVIA (SHIRLEY A. GORMAN OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT:
THE LEGAL AID BUREAU OF BUFFALO, INC., BUFFALO (MICHAEL S. DEAL OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
LAWRENCE FRIEDMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BATAVIA (SHIRLEY A. GORMAN OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
Appeal from a judgment of the Genesee County Court (Michael F. Pietruszka, A.J.), rendered May 26, 2016. The judgment convicted defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 220.16 [1]). Contrary to defendant's contention, we conclude that he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to appeal as a condition of the plea (see generally People v Lopez, 6 NY3d 248, 256 [2006]), and the record establishes that defendant "understood that the right to appeal is separate and distinct from those rights automatically forfeited upon a plea of guilty" (id.). Contrary to defendant's related contention, the oral waiver of the right to appeal was "buttressed by [his] written waiver of appeal, which explicitly enumerated the rights that were to be relinquished and [in which defendant] acknowledged that [he] had discussed the consequences of the waiver with counsel" (People v Giovanni, 53 AD3d 778, 778 [3d Dept 2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 832 [2008]). Finally, we conclude that defendant's valid waiver of the right to appeal encompasses his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see Lopez, 6 NY3d at 255).
Entered: March 16, 2018
Mark W. Bennett
Clerk of the Court