The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Hasson Wilson, Appellant.
Appellate Division, Second Department, New York
May 27, 2020
2020 NY Slip Op 03041 [183 AD3d 922]
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove and Jean M. Joyce of counsel; Marielle Burnett on the memorandum), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Dineen Riviezzo, J.), imposed March 8, 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. The Supreme Court‘s colloquy mischaracterized the scope of the appeal waiver by stating that the defendant‘s plea and sentence would not be reviewed by a higher court (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 560-563 [2019]; People v McDowell, 181 AD3d 716 [2020]), and “neither the [Supreme] Court‘s colloquy nor the written waiver form contain[ed] any language that appellate review remained available for select issues, including the voluntariness of the plea and the appeal waiver, legality of the sentence, and the jurisdiction of the court” (People v Baptiste, 181 AD3d 696 [2020]; see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d at 560-563). Moreover, the defendant was young, inexperienced with the criminal justice system, and had a significant mental health history. Under all of these circumstances, the purported waiver does not preclude appellate review of the defendant‘s excessive sentence claim (see People v Fuller, 163 AD3d 715 [2018]).
However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80 [1982]). Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Cohen, Connolly and Wooten, JJ., concur.