New York’s Court of Appeals Thursday made clear that a defendant who waives the right to appeal has no interest-of-justice remedy to an allegedly excessive sentence, assuming the trial judge scrupulously ensured that the defendant understood the implications of the waiver.
“By waiving the right to appeal in connection with a negotiated plea and sentence, a defendant agrees to end the proceedings entirely at the time of sentencing and to accept as reasonable the sentence imposed,” Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye wrote for the court. “A defendant may not subsequently eviscerate that bargain by asking an appellate court to reduce the sentence in the interest of justice.”
