THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK RESPONDENT v. APPEAL NO (2018)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.

Memorandum:  In appeal No. 1, defendant appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law § 220.16[1] ) and, in appeal No. 2, she appeals from a judgment convicting her upon her plea of guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (§ 220.39[1] ).  The two pleas were entered in a single plea proceeding.  In each appeal, defendant contends that her waiver of the right to appeal is not valid, and she challenges the severity of the sentence.  Although we agree with defendant that the waiver of the right to appeal is invalid because the perfunctory inquiry made by County Court was “insufficient to establish that the court ‘engage[d] the defendant in an adequate colloquy to ensure that the waiver of the right to appeal was a knowing and voluntary choice’ “ (People v. Brown, 296 A.D.2d 860, 860 [4th Dept 2002], lv denied 98 N.Y.2d 767 [2002];  see People v. Hamilton, 49 AD3d 1163, 1164 [4th Dept 2008] ), we nevertheless conclude that the sentence in each appeal is not unduly harsh or severe.

Mark W. Bennett

Clerk of the Court