PEOPLE v. COLLADO (2006)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (William A. Wetzel, J.), rendered March 1, 2004, convicting defendant, upon her plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, and sentencing her, as a second felony offender, to a term of 6 years to life, unanimously affirmed.

 Defendant validly waived her right to appeal, which forecloses review of her present claim that her conviction should be reduced to third-degree possession based upon the change in weight requirements contained in the Drug Law Reform Act (L. 2004, ch. 738).   Were we to find that defendant did not make a valid waiver, we would find that the amelioration doctrine of People v. Behlog, 74 N.Y.2d 237, 544 N.Y.S.2d 804, 543 N.E.2d 69 [1989] does not apply, because the Legislature has expressly stated that the provision upon which defendant relies applies only to crimes committed after its effective date (People v. Nelson, 21 A.D.3d 861, 804 N.Y.S.2d 1 [2005] ), and also because defendant was sentenced before the new law's effective date (People v. Walker, 81 N.Y.2d 661, 666-667, 603 N.Y.S.2d 280, 623 N.E.2d 1 [1993] ).