| People v Leiva |
| 2020 NY Slip Op 03391 [184 AD3d 731] |
| June 17, 2020 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Steven Leiva, Appellant. |
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, NY (Kendra L. Hutchinson of counsel), for appellant.
Melinda Katz, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, NY (Johnnette Traill and Roni Piplani ofcounsel; Anmari Guerrero on the memorandum), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court,Queens County (Gia Lynne Morris, J.), imposed November 14, 2018, upon his plea of guilty, onthe ground that the sentence was excessive.
Ordered that the sentence is affirmed.
The defendant's purported waiver of his right to appeal was invalid (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d545 [2019]; People vBradshaw, 18 NY3d 257, 265 [2011]). The Supreme Court's statement to the defendantthat by signing the appeal waiver form, the defendant was giving up his right to appeal and "therewill be no appeal to a higher court" suggested that the waiver may be an absolute bar to thetaking of an appeal (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d at 565-566). The written appealwaiver form did not overcome the defect in the court's explanation of the right to appeal, as it didnot contain clarifying language that appellate review remained available for select issues (seeid. at 565-566). Thus, the purported waiver does not preclude this Court's review of thedefendant's excessive sentence claim (see People v Fuller, 163 AD3d 715, 715 [2018]).
However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80[1982]). Rivera, J.P., Maltese, Barros, Brathwaite Nelson and Iannacci, JJ., concur.