STATE OF NEW JERSEY v. STEVEN B. TRAINER

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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-0

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

STEVEN B. TRAINER, a/k/a STEVE B.

JOHNSON, STEVE TRAINOR, STEVEN JOHNSON,

STEVEN GRAINOR, BRUCE TURNER, BOB

TURNER, and GREGORY S. TRAINER,

Defendant-Appellant.

______________________________

December 15, 2016

Submitted November 29, 2016 Decided

Before Judges Reisner and Rothstadt.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Hudson County, Indictment No.

11-03-0571.

Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Alison Perrone, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Esther Suarez, Hudson County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Eric P. Knowles, Assistant Prosecutor, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant Steven B. Trainer appeals from his judgment of conviction, based on a guilty plea to third-degree theft by unlawful taking, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-3. Defendant's appeal centers on the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. He presents the following point of argument

DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED IN THE INTERESTS OF JUSTICE.

Finding no merit in that contention, we affirm.

Defendant was indicted for first-degree robbery in connection with a purse snatching that occurred in 2010. After the plea cut-off date had passed, the trial court permitted defendant to enter into a plea agreement which included a flat term that would run concurrent to a sentence defendant was already serving on another conviction. Accordingly, defendant was permitted to plead to a third-degree crime and avoid serving any additional prison time. At the plea colloquy, on April 4, 2013, defendant specifically admitted the details of the crime under oath. In an interview with Probation, he repeated that admission.

Several months later, prior to sentencing, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The motion was not supported by an affidavit from defendant asserting his innocence, retracting his earlier admissions, or explaining why he pled guilty or why he was now seeking to void his guilty plea. Instead, the motion was supported by a copy, not a signed original, of an affidavit from one Donald Carey, notarized on March 21, 2011, purporting to provide defendant with an alibi.

At the oral argument of the motion, defendant's attorney admitted that defendant had the affidavit in his possession at the time he entered his guilty plea. No explanation was offered as to why defendant chose to plead guilty despite having the affidavit. The attorney stated that defendant was attempting to withdraw his guilty plea because he was concerned that a conviction in this case might be used against him in a future prosecution in another county.

In his oral opinion placed on the record on October 24, 2013, Judge John A. Young, Jr. concluded that defendant's motion did not satisfy the standards set forth in State v. Slater, 198 N.J. 145, 157-58 (2009). After reviewing the record, we agree. We find no abuse of the trial court's discretion in denying the motion, id. at 156, and we affirm for the reasons stated in Judge Young's opinion.

Affirmed.