People v. Vella - Criminal Conviction Appeal

New York Appellate Division

Filed March 12th, 2026

Detected March 13th, 2026

Summary

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York affirmed a judgment convicting Dylan K. Vella of murder in the second degree and other crimes. The defendant appealed the sentence, but his appeal waiver foreclosed review of the sentence's severity.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Third Department, affirmed a judgment of the Saratoga County Court convicting Dylan K. Vella of murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree (two counts), assault in the second degree, and sexual abuse in the first degree. The conviction was based on Vella's guilty plea to a 23-count indictment, and he was sentenced to 20 years to life for murder, with concurrent lesser terms for other offenses. Vella's sole appellate argument was that the sentence was harsh and severe, but the court found this argument was foreclosed by his unchallenged appeal waiver.

This decision affirms the lower court's judgment and sentence. For legal professionals and criminal defendants, this case highlights the binding nature of appeal waivers in plea agreements. The court also addressed a procedural point regarding the appealability of agreed-upon sentences, referencing prior case law that found a specific statute unconstitutional as a limitation on the Appellate Division's jurisdiction. No new compliance actions are required for regulated entities, as this is a specific case outcome.

Source document (simplified)

Support FLP

CourtListener is a project of Free
Law Project, a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit. Members help support our work and get special access to features.

Please become a member today.

Join Free.law Now

March 12, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Add Note

People v. Vella

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

Citations: 2026 NY Slip Op 01420
Docket Number: 113479
Opinion
Authorities (3)
Cited By (0)
Summaries (0)
Similar Cases (0)
PDF

Combined Opinion

People v Vella (2026 NY Slip Op 01420)
| People v Vella |
| 2026 NY Slip Op 01420 |
| Decided on March 12, 2026 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. |

Decided and Entered:March 12, 2026
113479

*[1]The People of the State of New York, Respondent,

Dylan K. Vella, Appellant.**

Calendar Date:February 18, 2026
Before:Reynolds Fitzgerald, J.P., Ceresia, Fisher, Powers and Mackey, JJ.

Thomas J. Butler, Albany, for appellant.

G. Scott Walling, Special Prosecutor, Slingerlands, for respondent.

Fisher, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Saratoga County (James Murphy III, J.), rendered January 11, 2022, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crimes of murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree (two counts), assault in the second degree and sexual abuse in the first degree.

In satisfaction of a 23-count indictment, defendant pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree and sexual abuse in the first degree and agreed to waive his right to appeal. In accordance with the plea agreement, County Court sentenced defendant to a prison term of 20 years to life for his conviction of second-degree murder and lesser concurrent prison terms, followed by periods of postrelease supervision, on the remaining convictions. Defendant appeals. [FN1]

The sole issue raised by defendant on appeal is that the agreed-upon sentence is harsh and severe, and he asks that it be reduced in the interest of justice. Defendant's request for such review, however, is foreclosed by his unchallenged appeal waiver (see People v Lopez, 6 NY3d 248, 255-256 [2006]; People v Andrews, 244 AD3d 1324, 1324 [3d Dept 2025]; People v Hardy, 243 AD3d 968, 968 [3d Dept 2025]).

Reynolds Fitzgerald, J.P., Ceresia, Powers and Mackey, JJ., concur.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

Footnotes

Footnote 1: Although the People assert that the appeal should be dismissed pursuant to CPL 450.10 (2), which "purports to disallow an appeal as of right to the Appellate Division where the sole issue is the claimed excessiveness of the agreed-upon sentence imposed by a judgment rendered upon a guilty plea, that provision was found to be an unconstitutional limitation on the jurisdiction of the Appellate Division" (People v Manson, 205 AD3d 1150, 1151 [3d Dept 2022]; see People v Pollenz, 67 NY2d 264, 267-269 [1986]).