| People v Trinidad-Ayala |
| 2014 NY Slip Op 01026 [114 AD3d 1229] |
| February 14, 2014 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Mizrain Trinidad-Ayala, Appellant. |
—[*1] William J. Fitzpatrick, District Attorney, Syracuse (James P. Maxwell of counsel),for respondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the Onondaga County Court (William D. Walsh, J.),rendered July 7, 2010. The judgment convicted defendant, upon his plea of guilty, ofmanslaughter in the first 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 ofguilty of manslaughter in the first degree (Penal Law § 125.20 [1]). We agree withdefendant that his waiver of the right to appeal is not valid. During the plea colloquy,County Court informed defendant that, if he did not sign a written waiver of the right toappeal, it would not be bound to honor the sentence promise of 15 years. Inasmuch as themaximum sentence defendant faced was 25 years, we conclude that the court therebyimplicitly threatened a penalty of 10 years of additional incarceration in the event thatdefendant did not sign the waiver. That language rendered the court's colloquyconcerning the waiver impermissibly coercive (see generally People v Fisher, 70 AD3d 114, 117-118[2009]). Although defendant's contention with respect to the severity of the sentencetherefore is not encompassed by the invalid waiver, we nevertheless conclude that thesentence is not unduly harsh or severe. Present—Scudder, P.J., Smith, Centra,Carni and Whalen, JJ.