STATE OF NEW JERSEY v. DEREK MOULTRIE

(NOTE: The status of this decision is .)
 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-5517-06T45517-06T4

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

DEREK MOULTRIE,

Defendant-Appellant.

_________________________________________

 

Submitted February 25, 2009 - Decided

Before Judges Rodr guez and Newman.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, Indictment No. 90-01-0148.

Derek Moultrie, appellant pro se.

Paula T. Dow, Essex County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (LeeAnn Cunningham, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant, Derek Moultrie, appeals from the dismissal of his second petition for post-conviction relief (PCR). We affirm.

In June 1990, following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of kidnapping, felony murder, knowing or purposeful murder, possession of a handgun without a permit, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, and escape. Anthony J. Iuliani, the trial judge, merged defendant's felony murder conviction into the knowing and purposeful murder conviction and merged the possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose conviction into the kidnapping and murder convictions. The judge imposed a life term with a thirty-year minimum term on the murder conviction, concurrent terms aggregating twenty-nine years on the kidnapping and possession of a weapon without a permit conviction, and a consecutive five-year term on the escape conviction. Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence. We affirmed. State v. Moultrie, No. A-6676-89T4 (App. Div. Oct. 14, 1992), certif. denied, 130 N.J. 602 (1992).

In May 1993, defendant filed pro se a first PCR petition. Judge Iuliani found defendant's challenges meritless. Defendant appealed. We affirmed, calling the trial court decision a "thorough and cogent decision." State v. Moultrie, No. A-6392-93T4 (App. Div. Dec. 7, 1995), certif. denied, 144 N.J. 175 (1996).

Defendant filed a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court of New Jersey. Judge John W. Bissell denied defendant's writ. Moultrie v. Morton, Civil No. 96-1724 (D.N.J. April 28, 1998).

Seven years later, defendant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. Judge Michael J. Nelson dismissed that motion in June 2005. In November 2006, defendant filed a second PCR petition. In a written decision dated May 4, 2007, Judge Nelson dismissed defendant's PCR petition, explaining that it was barred by Rule 3:22-4 (ground for relief not raised in a prior proceeding).

Defendant appeals contending:

THE COURT ERRED BY DENYING DEFENDANT'S SUCCESSIVE [PCR] PETITION WITHOUT ALLOWING ARGUMENT OR MAKING ANY SPECIFIC FINDINGS ON THE ISSUES PRESENTED.

We disagree and affirm substantially for the reasons expressed by Judge Nelson in his written May 4, 2007 opinion.

Affirmed.

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A-5517-06T4

June 12, 2009