STATE OF NEW JERSEY v. LUIS A. ROBLES

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-5376-04T45376-04T4

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

LUIS A. ROBLES,

Defendant-Appellant.

__________________________________________________________

 

Submitted May 9, 2006 - Decided May 23, 2006

Before Judges Coburn and Collester.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey,

Law Division, Union County, I-03-10-1043.

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender, attorney

for appellant (Robert L. Sloan, Assistant Deputy

Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief).

Zulima V. Farber, Attorney General, attorney

for respondent (Maura K. Tully, Deputy Attorney

General, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM

After losing his motion to suppress, defendant pled guilty by agreement with the State to third degree possession of heroin, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10a(1), and to second degree distribution of heroin within a public park zone, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1. In accordance with the plea agreement, defendant received an aggregate sentence of imprisonment for five years with half of the term to be served without parole. The only issues raised on appeal are the propriety of the judge's rejection of defendant's motion to suppress and the length of the sentence.

Defendant concedes that the police had probable cause to arrest him but contends they had no right to execute the arrest without a warrant after he entered the apartment into which he fled. The facts are uncomplicated. Three officers assigned to a burglary detail drove by a two-family house and noticed a man standing nearby. Defendant came from inside the house to the front door. The man approached him and handed defendant what appeared to be folded-up currency. Defendant put the money in his pocket and handed defendant a small object that the man put in his pocket. One of the officers had known the man for over thirty years and knew that he had a severe addiction to narcotics. Believing that they had just observed a sale of narcotics, the police approached. Defendant made eye contact with one of the officers, and turned and fled up the stairs. Another man who had approached the door at that time, walked up the stairs in the building and dropped a syringe on seeing the police. The officers ran up the stairs and banged on defendant's apartment door. They heard yelling inside and things being moved around. After about ten seconds a woman opened the door. The police entered and went to the bathroom where they found defendant trying to flush the heroin down the toilet. They recovered the heroin and arrested defendant.

We affirm the denial of defendant's motion to suppress substantially for the reasons expressed by the trial judge, noting in addition that this case is indistinguishable factually from State v. Josey, 290 N.J. Super. 17 (App. Div.), certif. denied, 146 N.J. 497 (1996), where we also upheld the denial of the motion to suppress. The sentencing argument is without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion.

R. 2:11-3(e)(2). See, e.g., State v. Sainz, 107 N.J. 283, 294 (1987); State v. Kruse, 105 N.J. 354, 361-62 (1987).

Affirmed.

 

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A-5376-04T4

May 23, 2006