The People of the State of New York v. Dorian Harold

The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo (Axelle Lecomte Mathewson of Counsel), for Defendant-Appellant. Michael J. Keane, Acting District Attorney, Buffalo (Michael J. Hillery of Counsel), for Respondent. Appeal from a judgment of the Erie County Court (Susan M. Eagan, J.), rendered September 21, 2021. The judgment convicted defendant upon his plea of guilty of attempted criminal sexual act in the first degree. It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed. Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of attempted criminal sexual act in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, former 130.50 [1]), defendant contends that his waiver of the right to appeal is invalid and that his sentence is unduly harsh and severe. As 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 — US —, 140 S Ct 2634 [2020]) and therefore does not preclude our review of his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see People v. Albanese, 218 AD3d 1366, 1366-1367 [4th Dept 2023], lv denied 40 NY3d 995 [2023]). We nevertheless reject defendant’s challenge to the severity of his 10-year term of postrelease supervision and conclude that the sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.