STATE OF NEW JERSEY v. IZEL KELLY, JR

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
                   APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

                                         SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
                                         APPELLATE DIVISION
                                         DOCKET NO. A-4660-08T4


STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

            Plaintiff-Respondent,

vs.

IZEL KELLY, JR.,

            Defendant-Appellant.


__________________________________

            Submitted:   May 5, 2010 - Decided: May 19, 2010

            Before Judges Cuff and Waugh.

            On appeal from the Superior Court of New
            Jersey,   Law  Division,   Monmouth County,
            Indictment No. 92-07-1009.

            Izel Kelly, Jr., appellant pro se.

            Luis A. Valentin, Monmouth County Prosecutor,
            attorney for respondent (Mary R. Juliano,
            Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the
            brief).

PER CURIAM

      Defendant Izel Kelly, Jr. is serving a seventy-year term of

imprisonment with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility

following    his   conviction   of   felony   murder   and   second   degree

robbery.     The victim was a Mexican émigré who was accosted by

defendant and his brother.           Defendant appeals from the denial

of his third petition for post-conviction relief (PCR).

    In a published opinion, we affirmed defendant's conviction,


302 N.J. Super. 145 (App. Div. 1997), certif. denied, 
156 N.J.
 409 (1998).    We also affirmed denial           of    defendant's      first   PCR

petition, State v. Kelly, No. A-2905-00 (App. Div. May 3, 2002),

certif. denied, 
175 N.J. 76 (2002).

    Defendant filed a petition for habeas corpus in the United

States   District    Court   on   May    20,    2003.       In   a   comprehensive

written opinion issued on October 31, 2005, Judge Chesler denied

the petition "for lack of sufficient merit."                     In addition, the

court denied a certificate of appealability.                     On September 13,

2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

denied a certificate of appealability.

    On August 12, 2008, fourteen years after his conviction,

defendant    filed   a   second    PCR       petition.      This     petition   was

dismissed.

    On    April   17,    2009,    fifteen      years     after   his   conviction,

defendant filed a third PCR petition.                 On April 28, 2009, Judge

Mellaci entered an order dismissing the petition.                      It is from

this order that defendant appeals.

    On appeal, defendant raises the following argument:

            THE TRIAL        COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE
            APPELLANT'S      PETITION FOR POST CONVICTION


                                                                          A-4660-08T4
                                         2

            RELIEF WITHOUT AFFORDING HIM AN EVIDENTIARY
            HEARING TO DETERMINE THE MERITS OF HIS
            CONTENTIONS THAT HE WAS DENIED THE RIGHT TO
            EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF TRIAL AND APPELLANT
            COUNSEL.

    We affirm the April 28, 2009 order substantially for the

reasons    expressed   in    Judge     Mellaci's   April   28,    2009    written

opinion.      We   have     reviewed    this   voluminous     record      in    its

entirety.      Defendant      raises     no    issue   that      has    not    been

previously reviewed by state and federal judges.                       The issues

raised by defendant in this appeal from denial of his third PCR

petition do not warrant further discussion in a written opinion.

R. 2:11-3(e)(2).

    Affirmed.




                                                                          A-4660-08T4
                                         3