| People v Eaton |
| 2017 NY Slip Op 05369 [151 AD3d 1950] |
| June 30, 2017 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v LawrenceEaton, Also Known as Lawrence Styles, Appellant. |
Donald R. Gerace, Utica, for defendant-appellant.
Scott D. McNamara, District Attorney, Utica (Steven G. Cox of counsel), forrespondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the Oneida County Court (Barry M. Donalty, J.), rendered April28, 2015. The judgment convicted defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of gang assault in the firstdegree.
It is hereby ordered that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty ofgang assault in the first degree (Penal Law § 120.07). We reject defendant'scontention that he did not validly waive his right to appeal any issue concerning the severity ofthe sentence. Defendant's oral waiver of the right to appeal was accompanied by a written waiverstating that defendant was waiving his right to appeal "issues relating to [his] sentence andconviction" (see People v Ramos, 7NY3d 737, 738 [2006]; People vMcArthur, 149 AD3d 1568, 1568-1569 [2017]), and County Court obtained defendant'sassurances at the plea proceeding that he had read and understood the written waiver (see People v Lewis, 143 AD3d1183, 1185 [2016]). The court's statements at the plea colloquy and the terms of the writtenwaiver also "adequately apprised defendant that the right to appeal is separate and distinct fromthose rights automatically forfeited upon a plea of guilty" (People v Sampson, 149 AD3d 1486, 1487 [2017] [internalquotation marks omitted]). Thus, defendant may not challenge the severity of the sentence on thisappeal. Present—Whalen, P.J., Carni, Lindley, Curran and Scudder, JJ.