Opinion
2018–08469 Ind.No. 2696/18
05-13-2020
The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. George PRICE, Appellant.
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, N.Y. (Alice R.B. Cullina of counsel), for appellant. Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Solomon Neubort of counsel; Marielle Burnett on the memorandum), for respondent.
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, N.Y. (Alice R.B. Cullina of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Leonard Joblove and Solomon Neubort of counsel; Marielle Burnett on the memorandum), for respondent.
WILLIAM F. MASTRO, J.P. JOHN M. LEVENTHAL ROBERT J. MILLER COLLEEN D. DUFFY HECTOR D. LASALLE, JJ.
DECISION & ORDER
Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Martin P. Murphy, J.), imposed May 29, 2018, upon his plea of guilty, on the ground that the sentence was excessive.
ORDERED that the sentence is affirmed.
The defendant's purported waiver of his right to appeal was invalid (see People v. Brown, 122 A.D.3d 133, 145–146, 992 N.Y.S.2d 297 ). The Supreme Court's brief colloquy did not fully explain to the defendant "the nature of the right to appeal or the consequences of waiving that right" ( People v. Moncrieft, 168 A.D.3d 982, 984, 92 N.Y.S.3d 335, citing People v. Brown, 122 A.D.3d at 144, 992 N.Y.S.2d 297 ). Although the record on appeal reflects that the defendant executed a written appeal waiver form, there was no further discussion of the written waiver on the record (see People v. Brown, 122 A.D.3d at 145, 992 N.Y.S.2d 297 ; People v. Callahan, 80 N.Y.2d 273, 283, 590 N.Y.S.2d 46, 604 N.E.2d 108 ). The court did not engage in a comprehensive colloquy with the defendant since it "did not ascertain on the record whether the defendant had read the waiver or discussed it with defense counsel, or whether he was even aware of its contents" ( People v. Brown, 122 A.D.3d at 145, 992 N.Y.S.2d 297 ). Thus, the purported waiver does not preclude this Court's review of the defendant's excessive sentence claim (see People v. Fuller, 163 A.D.3d 715, 715, 76 N.Y.S.3d 852 ).
However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v. Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80, 455 N.Y.S.2d 675 ).
MASTRO, J.P., LEVENTHAL, MILLER, DUFFY and LASALLE, JJ., concur.