People v Hutchings
2023 NY Slip Op 06641 [222 AD3d 1399]
December 22, 2023
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, February 7, 2024


[*1]
 The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Eugene S. Hutchings, Appellant.

Mark D. Funk, Conflict Defender, Rochester (Carolyn Walther of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Sandra Doorley, District Attorney, Rochester (Scott Myles of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Monroe County Court (Victoria M. Argento, J.), rendered February 15, 2018. The judgment convicted defendant upon his plea of guilty of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, attempted robbery in the first degree (two counts) and assault 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, inter alia, attempted murder in the second degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 125.25 [1]). As defendant contends and the People correctly concede, defendant's waiver of the right to appeal is invalid (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 564-566 [2019], cert denied 589 US &mdash, 140 S Ct 2634 [2020]; People v Jackson, 207 AD3d 1077, 1077 [4th Dept 2022], lv denied 38 NY3d 1151 [2022]). We are therefore not precluded from reviewing defendant's challenge to the severity of his sentence (see People v Martin, 213 AD3d 1299, 1299-1300 [4th Dept 2023]). Nevertheless, we reject defendant's contention that the sentence is unduly harsh and severe. Present—Whalen, P.J., Curran, Ogden, Greenwood and Nowak, JJ.