Opinion
DOCKET NO. A-3095-16T1
04-30-2018
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. ANDREW T. PENDER, a/k/a DREW PENDER, Defendant-Appellant.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Steven M. Gilson, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Stephen C. Sayer, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. Before Judges Reisner and Mayer. On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Cumberland County, Indictment No. 09-01-0018. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Steven M. Gilson, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Jennifer Webb-McRae, Cumberland County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Stephen C. Sayer, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM
Defendant Andrew T. Pender appeals from a January 23, 2017 order denying his petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm.
Based on overwhelming evidence of his guilt, defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1), and associated offenses. He was sentenced to sixty-eight years in prison, sixty years of which was subject to the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2.
We affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal, but remanded to correct a typographical error in the judgment of conviction. State v. Pender, No. A-3344-10 (App. Div. March 3, 2014), certif. denied, 220 N.J. 39 (2014). In his direct appeal, defendant did not challenge the denial of his mid-trial request for self-representation. However, in addressing another issue, our opinion noted defendant's request to represent himself - which the judge denied as untimely - and defendant's "pattern of disruptive and disrespectful behavior" during the trial. Pender, slip op. at 16-19.
Defendant raised the self-representation issue, along with several others, in a PCR petition. Judge Robert G. Malestein rejected the self-representation PCR claim in a comprehensive written opinion issued with the January 23, 2017 order denying the petition. On this appeal, defendant raises the same claim in the following point:
DEFENDANT'S CONVICTIONS MUST BE REVERSED BECAUSE HE WAS DENIED HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF SELF-REPRESENTATION.
We find no merit in that contention, and we affirm for the reasons stated in Judge Malestein's cogent opinion. No further discussion is warranted here. R. 2:11-3(e)(2).
Affirmed. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original on file in my office.
CLERK OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION