Opinion
DOCKET NO. A-1890-12T3
07-02-2014
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. KEIR JANUARIO, Defendant-Appellant.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Daniel Brown, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Joseph D. Coronato, Ocean County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Samuel Marzarella, Supervising Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
Before Judges Fisher and Espinosa.
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Ocean County, Indictment No. 08-07-1086.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Daniel Brown, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
Joseph D. Coronato, Ocean County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Samuel Marzarella, Supervising Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM
Defendant appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing. We affirm.
Defendant pled guilty to second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute. When he was arrested at his apartment, the officers observed a scale with a white powdery residue and recovered a quantity of cocaine sufficient to support a second-degree charge. In providing a factual basis for his guilty plea, defendant admitted possessing 26.8 grams of cocaine and that he intended to sell the cocaine.
Defendant later filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, contending that his actual intent was to sell less than one-half ounce of the cocaine seized and to retain the rest for personal use. His motion was denied. The sentencing court imposed an aggregate sentence of ten years with forty-two months parole ineligibility. Defendant did not file a direct appeal from his convictions or sentence.
Defendant filed a PCR petition in which he argued that he had been deprived of the effective assistance of counsel, contending his trial counsel failed to argue appropriate mitigating factors to the sentencing court and that he was improperly denied the right to withdraw his guilty plea. An amended petition and brief were submitted on behalf of defendant, raising additional claims. The PCR court denied defendant's petition by order dated June 5, 2012.
In this appeal, defendant presents the following arguments:
POINT I
THE PCR COURT ERRED IN RULING THAT MR. JANUARIO'S CLAIM THAT PLEA COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE IN FAILING TO ADVISE HIM OF A DEFENSE WAS PROCEDURALLY BARRED.
POINT II
THE PCR COURT ERRED IN DENYING MR. JANUARIO'S CLAIM THAT PLEA COUNSEL WAS INEFFECTIVE WITHOUT AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING.
After reviewing these arguments in light of the record and applicable principles of law, we conclude that they lack sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion, 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