Opinion
DOCKET NO. A-2124-14T4
05-19-2016
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. TERRI L. JACKSON, Defendant-Appellant.
Terri Jackson, appellant pro se. Grace H. Park, Acting Union County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Milton S. Leibowitz, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION Before Judges Koblitz and Gilson. On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, Indictment No. 14-02-0085. Terri Jackson, appellant pro se. Grace H. Park, Acting Union County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Milton S. Leibowitz, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM
Defendant Terri Jackson appeals from her November 3, 2014 conviction and sentence for a disorderly persons offense of obstruction of justice, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1(a), for which she was sentenced to one year of probation and the required monetary fees and penalties were imposed. As part of her negotiated agreement, the State agreed to dismiss the first three counts of Indictment No. 14-02-0085, which charged her with third-degree aggravated assault by attempting to cause bodily injury to a police officer with a deadly weapon, a chair, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(2) (count one); fourth-degree aggravated assault by attempting to cause bodily injury to the same officer while the officer was performing his duties, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(5) (count two); and third-degree possession of a weapon, a chair, with a purpose to use it unlawfully, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(d) (count three). In exchange, defendant pled guilty to count four, as amended from a charge of third-degree resisting arrest, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2, to a disorderly persons offense of obstruction of justice. Defendant was represented by assigned counsel from the Office of the Public Defender.
We glean the following facts from the record provided, which includes the transcript of the municipal court proceedings. Defendant went to municipal court on October 28, 2013, to assist her mother in responding to a township ordinance complaint alleging that a fence on the mother's property intruded on a neighbor's property. See Union Twp., N.J., Code § 170-145 (1996). In the course of a "heated" discussion with the municipal judge, the judge ordered defendant to stop speaking and leave the courtroom. Defendant did not do so, was held in contempt by the judge and fined $50, and, after an altercation with the police, was ultimately arrested.
Contrary to the New Jersey Court Rules, the argument in defendant's pro se appellate brief is presented without "appropriate point headings." R. 2:6-2(a)(5). In the two-page argument section of her brief, which primarily deals with her mother's municipal ordinance matter, defendant states that "after 11 days in jail and 18 court appearances I pleaded guilty out of distress." In her conclusion, referring to her criminal case as the "second case," she states: "For my mother's situation this second case needs to be thrown out because it is invalid." She then writes: "The reason why I filed this brief is to exonerate myself and to have my record expunged."
The State in its responding brief characterizes defendant's appellate argument as a request to withdraw her guilty plea. If we granted such relief, which was not requested in the Law Division, defendant would again face the indictment. We are not confident that defendant in fact seeks this relief, as the probationary period imposed (one year) has passed since she was sentenced, and she appears to believe incorrectly that we have the authority to review the facts de novo and exonerate her.
Because defendant's failure to comply with the Rules prevents us from determining what relief, if any, she seeks that is within the scope of our appellate authority, we dismiss the appeal. See R. 2:9-9; see also Cherry Hill Dodge, Inc. v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 194 N.J. Super. 282, 283-84 (App. Div. 1984) (dismissing an appeal based on appellate counsel's failure to follow the Rules).
Dismissed. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original on file in my office.
CLERK OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION