Court Opinion

ID: 9947657
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-05 15:10:50.16763+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:27:14.635039
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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.

                                                        SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
                                                        APPELLATE DIVISION
                                                        DOCKET NO. A-0459-22

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

          Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

JASON WILLIAMS,

          Defendant-Appellant.

                   Submitted February 26, 2024 – Decided March 5, 2024

                   Before Judges Sabatino and Chase.

                   On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
                   Division, Essex County, Indictment No. 07-05-1543.

                   Jennifer Nicole Sellitti, Public Defender, attorney for
                   appellant (Monique D. Moyse, Designated Counsel, on
                   the brief).

                   Theodore N. Stephens II, Acting Essex County
                   Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Hannah Faye Kurt,
                   Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant
                   Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM
      Defendant Jason Williams pled guilty in 2007 to third-degree possession

of cocaine, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10(a)(1). Pursuant to the plea agreement, the trial

court sentenced him to two years' probation and various fines. In 2018, the

federal government initiated removal proceedings against defendant, a native of

Guyana, because his drug conviction subjected him to mandatory deportation.

      In March 2020, defendant filed a petition for postconviction relief

("PCR") with the trial court. In his petition, defendant contends he received

ineffective assistance of his plea counsel because counsel allegedly gave him

affirmative mis-advice about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea.

He also contends his lawyer failed to advise him about his ability as a first-time

offender to apply for pretrial intervention ("PTI").

      On July 7, 2022, the trial court rejected defendant's PCR petition and his

motion to withdraw his guilty plea, doing so without an evidentiary hearing.

Defendant appeals that determination. He argues in his brief:

            POINT ONE

            MR. WILLIAMS IS ENTITLED TO AN
            EVIDENTIARY HEARING OR RELIEF ON HIS
            CLAIM THAT HIS ATTORNEY RENDERED
            INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL BY
            AFFIRMATIVELY MISADVISING HIM ABOUT
            THE DEPORTATION CONSEQUENCES OF HIS
            PLEA AND FAILING TO ADVISE HIM ABOUT PTI.

                                                                            A-0459-22
                                        2
               POINT TWO

               MR. WILLIAMS’S GUILTY PLEA MUST BE SET
               ASIDE OR THE MATTER REMANDED FOR AN
               EVIDENTIARY HEARING.

      Defendant seeks a remand for an evidentiary hearing. The State consents

to such a hearing, mainly because the trial court did not correctly apply the

controlling case law under State v. Nuñez-Valdez, 200 N.J. 129 (2009).

      Because the parties agree that an evidentiary hearing is warranted, we

remand this matter to the trial court to conduct the hearing. The scope of the

hearing shall encompass both the immigration mis-advice claim and the PTI

claim. The question of whether defendant's guilty plea may be withdrawn shall

abide the disposition of the ineffectiveness issues.

      We do not retain jurisdiction. Depending on the outcome of the remand,

either party may file a new appeal, or a motion for leave to appeal, as may be

appropriate.

      Remanded.

                                                                         A-0459-22
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