People v Gandy
2023 NY Slip Op 05927 [221 AD3d 1599]
November 17, 2023
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, January 10, 2024


[*1]
 The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Michael D. Gandy, Appellant.

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo (Susan R. Hutchison of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

John J. Flynn, District Attorney, Buffalo (Daniel J. Mattle of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Erie County (Russell P. Buscaglia, A.J.), rendered February 7, 2020. The judgment convicted defendant, upon a guilty plea, of attempted robbery in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

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

Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted robbery in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 160.15 [2]) and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree (§ 265.03 [3]).

We agree with defendant that he did not validly waive his right to appeal (see People v Franklin, 217 AD3d 1427, 1427 [4th Dept 2023]; see generally People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 565-566 [2019], cert denied 589 US &mdash, 140 S Ct 2634 [2020]). Nevertheless, we reject defendant's contention that Supreme Court erred in refusing to suppress identification evidence on the ground that the photo array from which a witness identified him was unduly suggestive. Although defendant was the only person depicted in a red shirt in the photo array, the shirt was "not so distinctive as to be conspicuous" (People v LaCross, 175 AD3d 1838, 1838 [4th Dept 2019], lv denied 34 NY3d 1130 [2020]). Nor did slight differences in the background color of the photographs taint the photo array. The mere fact that defendant's photograph "has a slightly [darker] background than [some of] the others does not support the conclusion that the identification procedure was unduly suggestive" (People v Evans, 137 AD3d 1683, 1683 [4th Dept 2016], lv denied 27 NY3d 1131 [2016]). Finally, contrary to defendant's contention, his sentence is not unduly harsh or severe. Present—Lindley, J.P., Curran, Montour, Ogden and Nowak, JJ.