THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK RESPONDENT v. STEVEN ORDWAY DEFENDANT APPELLANT (2023)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

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

Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of burglary in the third degree (Penal Law § 140.20), defendant contends that his waiver of the right to appeal is invalid and that the sentence is unduly harsh and severe. As the People correctly concede, the purported waiver of the right to appeal is not enforceable inasmuch as County Court's minimal inquiry “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 Days, 150 AD3d 1622, 1624 [4th Dept 2017], lv denied 29 NY3d 1125 [2017] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see People v McCoy, 107 AD3d 1454, 1454 [4th Dept 2013], lv denied 22 NY3d 957 [2013]; see generally People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 558 [2019], cert denied — US —, 140 S Ct 2634 [2020]).

Although we are thus not precluded from reviewing defendant's challenge to the severity of his sentence, we nevertheless conclude that the negotiated sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.

Entered: February 3, 2023

Ann Dillon Flynn

Clerk of the Court