People v. Sealey

• Decision Date: 21 October 2020
• Docket Number: 2018–08784,Ind.No. 17–00051
• Citation: 131 N.Y.S.3d 179 (Mem),187 A.D.3d 1067
• Parties: The PEOPLE, etc., respondent, v. Jaime SEALEY, appellant.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

187 A.D.3d 1067

131 N.Y.S.3d 179 (Mem)

The PEOPLE, etc., respondent,

v.Jaime SEALEY, appellant.

2018–08784

Ind.No. 17–00051

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Submitted—September 30, 2020

October 21, 2020

Yasmin Daley Duncan, Brooklyn, NY, for appellant.

William V. Grady, District Attorney, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Anna K. Diehn of counsel), for respondent.

REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., JOSEPH J. MALTESE, BETSY BARROS, VALERIE BRATHWAITE NELSON, ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Dutchess County (Peter M. Forman, J.), rendered November 14, 2017, convicting him of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and bribing a witness, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant's purported waiver of his right to appeal was invalid because the County Court's oral colloquy mischaracterized the appellate rights waived as encompassing a bar to filing an appellate brief and the loss of attendant rights to counsel and poor person relief (see People v. Thomas, 34 N.Y.3d 545, 560–564, 122 N.Y.S.3d 226, 144 N.E.3d 970 ; People v. Walder, 186 A.D.3d 1272, 127 N.Y.S.3d 894 [2d Dept.] ; People v. Howard, 183 A.D.3d 640, 121 N.Y.S.3d 622 ). These defects were not cured by the terms of the written appeal waiver form which repeated many of the mischaracterizations contained in the court's oral colloquy (see People v. Howard, 183 A.D.3d 640, 121 N.Y.S.3d 622 ). Thus, the purported waiver does not preclude appellate review of the defendant's excessive sentence claim (see id. ; People v. Fuller, 163 A.D.3d 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 ).

RIVERA, J.P., MALTESE, BARROS, BRATHWAITE NELSON and IANNACCI, JJ., concur.