WAIVER OF APPEAL INEFFECTIVE, DESPITE DEFENDANT’S SIGNING OF A WRITTEN WAIVER (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department determined defendant’s waiver of appeal was ineffective, despite defendant’s signing of a written waiver:

… [T]he record does not demonstrate that the defendant understood the distinction between the right to appeal and other trial rights forfeited incident to his plea of guilty … . Furthermore, although the record on appeal reflects that the defendant executed written appeal waiver forms, the transcript of the plea proceedings shows that the court did not ascertain on the record whether the defendant had read the waivers or discussed them with defense counsel, or whether he was even aware of their contents … . People v Medina, 2018 NY Slip Op 03151, Second Dept 5-2-18

​CRIMINAL LAW (APPEALS, WAIVER OF APPEAL INEFFECTIVE, DESPITE DEFENDANT’S SIGNING OF A WRITTEN WAIVER (SECOND DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, WAIVER OF APPEAL INEFFECTIVE, DESPITE DEFENDANT’S SIGNING OF A WRITTEN WAIVER (SECOND DEPT))