| People v Howard |
| 2020 NY Slip Op 02660 [183 AD3d 640] |
| May 6, 2020 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Gerald Howard, Appellant. |
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, NY (David P. Greenberg of counsel), forappellant.
Melinda Katz, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, NY (Johnnette Traill of counsel;Anmari Guerrero on the memorandum), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the SupremeCourt, Queens County (Gia L. Morris, J.), imposed January 10, 2019, upon his plea ofguilty, 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 because theSupreme Court's colloquy mischaracterized the appellate rights waived as encompassingan absolute bar to the taking of a direct appeal and the loss of attendant rights to counseland poor person relief (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 565 [2019]; People v McDowell, 181 AD3d 716 [2020]) and failed toinform the defendant that appellate review remained available for select issues (see People v Baptiste, 181AD3d 696 [2020]). Moreover, these defects were not cured by the terms of thestandard written appeal waiver form, which not only lacked detail and repeated many ofthe mischaracterizations contained in the court's colloquy, but further misstated that thedefendant was giving up the right to all postconviction relief separate from the directappeal (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d at 565). Thus, the purported waiver does not preclude appellate review of thedefendant's excessive sentence claim (see People v Fuller, 163 AD3d 715 [2018]).
However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90AD2d 80 [1982]). Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Cohen, Connolly and Wooten, JJ.,concur.