| People v Joseph |
| 2020 NY Slip Op 05928 [187 AD3d 1050] |
| October 21, 2020 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
[*1]
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Hermon Joseph, Appellant. |
Paul Skip Laisure, New York, NY (Dina Zloczower of counsel), for appellant.
Michael E. McMahon, District Attorney, Staten Island, NY (Morrie I. Kleinbart of counsel),for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (StephenJ. Rooney, J.), rendered January 25, 2016, convicting him of criminal possession of stolenproperty in the fourth degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing a definite term ofimprisonment of one year.
Ordered that the judgment is modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, byreducing the sentence from a definite term of imprisonment of one year to a definite term ofimprisonment of 364 days; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed.
The defendant's purported waiver of his right to appeal was invalid because the SupremeCourt's colloquy mischaracterized the appellate rights waived as encompassing an absolute bar tothe taking of a direct appeal, and failed to inform the defendant that appellate review remainedavailable for certain issues (see People vThomas, 34 NY3d 545 [2019]; People v Howard, 183 AD3d 640 [2020]). Further, the writtenwaiver form signed by the defendant was insufficient to overcome the deficiencies in the court'sexplanation of the waiver of the right to appeal, since it did not contain language clarifying thatappellate review remained available for certain issues (see People v Contreras, 183 AD3d 759 [2020]). Thus, the purportedwaiver does not preclude this Court from reviewing the issue of whether the defendant's sentencewas excessive (see People v Fuller,163 AD3d 715 [2018]).
Although the defendant has served his sentence, the question of whether the sentenceimposed should be reduced is not academic, since the sentence may have potential immigrationconsequences (see People vAisewomhonio, 131 AD3d 1177 [2015]).
The defendant's contention that the sentence imposed violated the Eighth Amendment to theUnited States Constitution and article I, section 5 of the New York State Constitution prohibitingcruel and unusual punishment is unpreserved for appellate review (see People v Pena, 28 NY3d 727,730 [2017]), and, in any event, without merit (see People v Rolling, 186 AD3d 1264 [2d Dept 2020]). However,considering all of the relevant circumstances of this case, including but not limited to thepotential immigration consequences to the defendant, we reduce his sentence to a definite term ofimprisonment of 364 days (see People vBakayoko, 174 AD3d 730 [2019]; People v Weston, 98 AD3d 1066, 1067 [2012]). Balkin, J.P.,Chambers, Cohen, Connolly and Wooten, JJ., concur.