SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4095-18T1

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

JAMES M. WATERS, JR.,

Defendant-Appellant.

_________________________

Submitted November 18, 2020 – Decided

Before Judges Whipple, Rose, and Firko.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law 

Division, Ocean County, Indictment Nos. 15-05-0970 

and 16-01-0155.

Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for 

appellant (Steven E. Braun, Designated Counsel, on the 

brief).

Bradley D. Billhimer, Ocean County Prosecutor, 

attorney for respondent (Samuel J. Marzarella, Chief 

Appellate Attorney, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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.

December 31, 2020
2

A-4095-18T1

Defendant James M. Waters appeals from a March 6, 2019, order denying 

his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing.

Defendant raises the following issue on appeal:

POINT I: TRIAL DEFENSE COUNSEL WAS 

INEFFECTIVE BY FAILING TO ADVISE 

DEFENDANT OF THE MANDATORY TWO-YEAR 

SUSPENSION OF HIS DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR 

THE DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED CHARGE.

We affirm for the reasons stated by Judge Guy P. Ryan in his wellreasoned written opinion issued with the order. We add the following 

comments.

Defendant was charged under two separate indictments with possession of 

a controlled dangerous substance, phencyclidine (PCP), N.J.S.A. 2C:35-

10(a)(1), as well as five motor vehicle tickets, including driving while 

intoxicated (DWI), N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, from separate incidents. He was also

charged with various other drug offenses under a summons. 

During a March 2017 plea hearing, defendant admitted he had ingested 

liquid PCP prior to driving his car in February 2015. His car slid off the road, 

and police responded, finding defendant's bottle of PCP in the car. He pleaded 

guilty to possession of PCP; DWI, which was a second offense for defendant; 

and to wandering to obtain a controlled substance, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-2.1(b), a 
3

A-4095-18T1

disorderly persons offense, which was amended and downgraded from an 

indictable offense. 

During the plea hearing, defendant openly acknowledged that pleading 

guilty to the DWI offense could result in the loss of his driver's license "for 

anywhere from [six] months to [twenty-four] months" and that he would need 

to pay monetary penalties for the DWI and additional offenses. 1 

At sentencing, trial counsel informed the judge at sidebar that defendant 

sought to withdraw his guilty pleas because he "can't take the two years [license 

suspension]." On the record in open court, defense counsel asserted that he 

discussed the mandatory two-year loss of license with defendant, arguing that 

the license suspension would be "devastating." The sentencing court rejected 

defendant's informal request to withdraw the plea and imposed a two-year loss 

of driver's license as a result of the DWI, in addition to monetary penalties. 

Defendant was also ordered to spend forty-eight hours in a classroom-setting 

Intoxicated Driver Resource Center and was sentenced to thirty days of 

1 Although not a part of this appeal, defendant also pleaded guilty to the two 

summonses for wandering to obtain a controlled dangerous substance, which 

were downgraded from indictable offenses to disorderly persons offenses. 
4

A-4095-18T1

community service. At its discretion, the court decided not to impose an 

interlock on defendant's motor vehicle. 

In May 2018, defendant filed this petition for PCR, simply alleging

"ineffective assistance of counsel," with no further specificity. In denying the 

petition, Judge Ryan noted that defendant had his driving privileges suspended 

twenty-one times and it was unclear whether defendant ever obtained a New 

Jersey driver's license. Judge Ryan emphasized that because the DWI charge at 

issue was defendant's second DWI conviction, defendant would have been 

notified at his first offense of the consequences of subsequent offenses. The 

record demonstrates defendant knew of the penalties, and that the first DWI was 

recent enough in time to the second DWI for defendant to be on sufficient notice 

of the enhanced penalty. 

In response to defendant's contention that his constitutional rights had 

been implicated by alleged lack of information, Judge Ryan stated that even if 

there had indeed been deficient advisement, the prior conviction could only be 

barred from enhancing defendant's incarceration period—it would have no effect 

on the mandatory driver's license suspension component of defendant's penalty. 

(citing State v. Hrycak, 184 N.J. 351, 358 (2005) (explaining that a prior 

uncounseled conviction for DWI cannot increase a "defendant's loss of liberty" 
5

A-4095-18T1

but that "enhanced administrative penalties and fines may constitutionally be 

imposed . . .")). 

Finally, the court concluded defendant's assertions were not sufficient to 

meet the Strickland/Fritz2standard for ineffective assistance claims. Based on 

our review of the record, we discern no error requiring us to disturb the denial 

of the petition nor the denial of a motion for a new trial.

Affirmed.

2

 Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984); State v. Fritz, 105 N.J. 42 

(1987) (requiring a defendant seeking PCR on ineffective assistance of counsel 

grounds to demonstrate: (1) the particular manner in which counsel's 

performance was deficient; and (2) that the deficiency prejudiced defendant's 

right to a fair trial).