People v Braye
2018 NY Slip Op 03562 [161 AD3d 1381]
May 17, 2018
Appellate Division, Third Department
As corrected through Wednesday, June 27, 2018


[*1]
 The People of the State of New York,Respondent,
v
Kevin Braye, Also Known as Blind,Appellant.

Dana L. Salazar, East Greenbush, for appellant.

Robert M. Carney, District Attorney, Schenectady (Jennifer Uhl, Law Intern), forrespondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Schenectady County (Loyola, J.), renderedAugust 24, 2015, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal sale of acontrolled substance in the third degree.

Defendant pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree andpurportedly waived his right to appeal. As part of the plea agreement, defendant was advised thathe would be sentenced to no less than five years but no more than six years in prison. CountyCourt thereafter sentenced him, as a second felony offender, to six years in prison, to be followedby 11/2 years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.

Initially, although defendant executed a written waiver of appeal, the brief inquiry conductedby County Court regarding defendant's understanding of the waiver and its ramifications did notestablish that defendant knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to appeal (see People v Joseph PP., 153 AD3d970, 971 [2017]; People vDavis, 136 AD3d 1220, 1221 [2016], lv denied 27 NY3d 1068 [2016]). As such,defendant's challenge to the severity of his sentence is not precluded (see People v Ortiz, 153 AD3d1049, 1049 [2017]).

Nonetheless, given defendant's criminal history and that he agreed to the sentence as part ofthe plea agreement, we find neither extraordinary circumstances nor an abuse of discretionwarranting a reduction of the sentence in the interest of justice (see People v Thompson, 157 AD3d1141, 1142 [2018]; People vZabawczuk, 128 AD3d 1267, 1269 [2015], lv denied 26 [*2]NY3d 937 [2015]).

Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Devine, Aarons and Pritzker, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.


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