People v. Castillo, 226 A.D.3d 573

Victor Castillo pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in New York Supreme Court, Bronx County.
He was sentenced to five years' probation following his plea.
During the plea colloquy, Castillo admitted the facts and guilt before the court explained trial rights and the right to appeal.
Castillo signed a written waiver and orally acknowledged understanding and voluntarily waiving his appellate rights.
On appeal, Castillo challenged the validity of his waiver, the constitutionality of New York’s gun licensing laws, and the severity of his sentence.
The Appellate Division affirmed Castillo’s conviction and sentence.

Issue	Castillo's Argument	People's Argument	Held
Validity of Appeal Waiver	Waiver invalid due to order of plea colloquy and factual allocution	Waiver was knowing, voluntary, and sufficiently explained	Waiver was valid under totality of circumstances
Right to Challenge Gun Licensing Scheme	Law is unconstitutional under recent Supreme Court precedent	Castillo lacked standing as he did not apply for a license	Castillo lacked standing; challenge foreclosed
Applicability of Second Amendment/Bruen	Conviction violates Second Amendment per Bruen	Bruen inapplicable; prior cases have rejected similar challenges	No constitutional violation under Bruen
Excessiveness of Sentence	Sentence was excessive	Sentence was lenient, negotiated, and proper	No basis to reduce sentence

People v. Thomas, 34 NY3d 545 (N.Y. 2019) (setting standards for valid waiver of appeal upon guilty plea)
People v. Seaberg, 74 NY2d 1 (N.Y. 1989) (discussing voluntary and informed waiver of right to appeal)
People v. Cherif, 220 AD3d 543 (1st Dep't 2023) (upholding constitutionality of gun possession statutes after Bruen)
People v. DeLarosa, 219 AD3d 1230 (1st Dep't 2023) (similar holding post-Bruen)
People v. Adames, 216 AD3d 519 (1st Dep't 2023) (rejecting Second Amendment challenge to gun possession conviction)