SENTENCE DEEMED UNDULY HARSH (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined defendant’s sentence was unduly harsh and directed that all but one of the sentences run concurrently:

For the kidnapping and murder counts, defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of incarceration of 25 years to life. For the burglary and robbery counts, related to the crimes committed at the victim’s residence, defendant received determinate terms of incarceration of 15 years. Although those sentences run concurrently with each other, they were directed to run consecutively to the kidnapping and murder sentences. In addition, defendant received an indeterminate term of incarceration of 1⅓ to 4 years for the count of tampering with physical evidence, which was to run consecutively to all other counts.

It is well settled that this Court’s “sentence-review power may be exercised, if the interest of justice warrants, without deference to the sentencing court” … and that “we may ‘substitute our own discretion for that of a trial court which has not abused its discretion in the imposition of a sentence’ ” … . Here, the record establishes that defendant, who was 22 years old and gainfully employed at the time of the crimes, had no prior criminal history. In addition, although she was an accessory to the crimes committed at the victim’s residence, the evidence establishes that she was one block away during that incident and did not physically participate in those crimes. There is also evidence suggesting that defendant was the victim of repeated acts of domestic abuse perpetrated by one of the codefendants.

Under the circumstances, we conclude that the sentence imposed is unduly harsh and severe. We therefore modify the judgment as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice by directing that all sentences except the sentence imposed on the count of tampering with physical evidence run concurrently with each other … . People v Colon, 2021 NY Slip Op 01652, Fourth Dept 3-18-21