People v White
2020 NY Slip Op 02482 [182 AD3d 612]
April 29, 2020
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, June 3, 2020


[*1]
 The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Anthony White, Appellant.

Paul Skip Laisure, New York, NY (William Kastin of counsel), for appellant.

Michael E. McMahon, District Attorney, Staten Island, NY (Morrie I. Kleinbart of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Stephen J. Rooney, J.), imposed December 4, 2017, upon his plea of guilty, on the ground that the sentence imposed was excessive.

Ordered that the sentence is affirmed.

The defendant's purported waiver of his right to appeal was invalid, as the Supreme Court mischaracterized the nature of the waiver (see People v Green, 34 NY3d 545, 564-566 [2019] [companion case to People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545 (2019)]). Where, as here, a trial court has "mischaracterized the nature of the right a defendant was being asked to cede, an appellate court cannot be certain that the defendant comprehended the nature of the waiver of appellate rights" (People v Thomas, 34 NY3d at 565 [internal quotation marks omitted]). Thus, the purported waiver of the right to appeal does not preclude this Court's review of the defendant's excessive sentence claim (see People v Rodriguez, 178 AD3d 736, 736 [2019]).

However, the sentence imposed was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80 [1982]). Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Cohen, Connolly and Wooten, JJ., concur.