People v Woodward
2025 NYSlipOp 01744 [236 AD3d 1474]
March 21, 2025
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, May 7, 2025


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

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo (Axelle Lecomte Mathewson of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Michael J. Keane, Acting District Attorney, Buffalo (Daniel J. Punch of counsel), for respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Erie County Court (Sheila A. DiTullio, J.), rendered April 11, 2022. The judgment convicted defendant upon his plea of guilty of burglary in the third degree (three counts).

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 three counts of burglary in the third degree (Penal Law § 140.20). We agree with defendant that the waiver of the right to appeal is invalid and therefore does not preclude our review of his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 564-566 [2019], cert denied 589 US &mdash, 140 S Ct 2634 [2020]; People v Humphrey, 218 AD3d 1354, 1354 [4th Dept 2023]; People v Martin, 213 AD3d 1299, 1299-1300 [4th Dept 2023]). Nonetheless, we conclude that the sentence is not unduly harsh or severe. Present—Lindley, J.P., Curran, Greenwood and Hannah, JJ.