Crimes - Appeal - Valid Waiver

Appeal from a judgment of the Genesee County Court (Charles N. Zambito, J.), rendered August 24, 2021. The judgment convicted defendant, upon a plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third 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 criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 220.16 [1]). Contrary to defendant's contention, County Court did not mischaracterize the waiver of the right to appeal as "an absolute bar to the taking of a first-tier direct appeal" (People v Thomas, 34 NY3d 545, 558 [2019], cert denied 589 US 1302 [2020]). Instead, the court "followed the model colloquy nearly verbatim" (People v Figueroa, 230 AD3d 1581, 1582 [4th Dept 2024], lv denied 42 NY3d 1079 [2025]), and explained to defendant that he was "not actually giving up the right to file a notice of appeal" and that "there are certain issues that still can be raised" after a waiver of the right to appeal, including the voluntariness of the plea and the legality of the sentence (see People v Brinson, 240 AD3d 1376, 1377 [4th Dept 2025]; People v Edmonds, 229 AD3d 1275, 1277 [4th Dept 2024], lv denied 43 NY3d 930 [2025]). Defendant's subsequent refusal to sign a written waiver of the right to appeal is of no moment where, as here, "the oral waiver was adequate" (People v Thomas, 237 AD3d 1557, 1558 [4th Dept 2025], lv denied 43 NY3d 1059 [2025] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see People v Lopez, 6 NY3d 248, 257 [2006]). Defendant's waiver encompasses his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see Lopez, 6 NY3d at 255; People v Hidalgo, 91 NY2d 733, 737 [1998]). Present—Lindley, J.P., Curran, Bannister, Ogden and DelConte, JJ.