IN THE MATTER EXPUNGEMENT CRIMINAL RECORDS OF LYNN SUSAN JAMESON, F/K/A LYNN SUSAN MANZ. v.

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0662-05T50662-05T5

IN THE MATTER OF THE EXPUNGEMENT

OF THE CRIMINAL RECORDS OF

LYNN SUSAN JAMESON,

F/K/A LYNN SUSAN MANZ.

__________________________________

 

Argued May 1, 2007 - Decided May 11, 2007

Before Judges Axelrad and Gilroy.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Morris County, Docket No. Ex-92-04.

Alfred V. Gellene argued the cause for appellant Lynn Susan Jameson, f/k/a Lynn Susan Manz.

Julian L. Hill, Jr., Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent State of New Jersey (Michael M. Rubbinaccio, Morris County Prosecutor, attorney; Joseph Connor, Jr., Assistant Prosecutor, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Petitioner Lynn Susan Jameson, f/k/a Lynn Susan Manz, appeals from the denial of her application for expungement of her record of convictions pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2a. We affirm.

On August 21, 1988, petitioner was arrested for her involvement in an incident that occurred in the Township of Boonton. Petitioner was charged by a Morris County Grand Jury under Indictment No. 89-01-0012-I with resisting arrest, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2b (Count One) and two counts of terroristic threats, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3b (Counts Two and Three). On June 30, 1989, petitioner pled guilty to all charges, and on July 7, 1989, she was sentenced to four years' probation and ordered to undergo alcohol treatment. All appropriate fines and penalties were also assessed.

On February 28, 1989, between the dates of her arrest in Boonton and her convictions, petitioner was arrested in the Township of Montville. As a result of the Montville incident, petitioner was indicted by a Morris County Grand Jury under Indictment No. 89-04-0453-I with aggravated assault of a police officer, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(5) (Count One); resisting arrest, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2 (Count Two); and criminal mischief, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-3a (Count Three). On August 29, 1989, petitioner pled guilty to the downgraded charge of simple assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1a and to the indictable charges of resisting arrest and criminal mischief. Petitioner was sentenced the same day to time served in the Morris County jail and placed on probation for eighteen months concurrent to her then extent probationary term under Indictment No. 89-04-0453-I.

On May 18, 2004, petitioner filed her petition for expungement of her criminal records. On August 17, 2005, an order was entered denying the application for expungement of the records pertaining to the indictable convictions while granting expungement of the records of an unrelated charge of violating a domestic violence restraining order on May 24, 1989, as the complaint had been dismissed.

On appeal, petitioner argues that her application for expungement of the indictable convictions should have been granted as "being within the spirit and purpose of the expungement statute" because the two incidents were part of a continuous episode in her life, were pending at the same time, and were resolved before the same judge within sixty days of each other, citing In re Fontana, 146 N.J. Super. 264 (App. Div. 1976). Petitioner contends that all indictable charges should have been resolved in a single proceeding and treated as a single conviction under the expungement statute. Petitioner asserts that her trial attorney was guilty of ineffective assistance of counsel for not consolidating the matters for purpose of entering a plea. Lastly, petitioner argues that counsel's error was compounded by the trial judge's failure to order a pre-sentence report on the Boonton convictions, which would have revealed the existence of the Montville charges, and would have resulted in a consolidation of all charges for purposes of plea and sentencing.

We have reviewed each of these arguments in light of the record and the applicable law, and have concluded that they are without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(2). We decline to consider petitioner's argument of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the issue not having been raised in the first instance in the Law Division. Ineffective assistance of counsel claims are better suited for post-conviction relief (PCR) review. R. 3:22-1; State v. Preciose, 129 N.J. 451, 459 (1992). As to all remaining arguments, we affirm substantially for the reasons articulated by Judge Harper in his cogent and comprehensive written opinion of July 21, 2005.

 
Affirmed.

N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2a provides in pertinent part: "In all cases, except as herein provided [not applicable], wherein a person has been convicted of a crime under the laws of this State and who has not been convicted of any prior or subsequent crime, whether within this State or any other jurisdiction, and has not been adjudged a disorderly person or petty disorderly person on more than two occasions may, after the expiration of a period of 10 years from the date of his [or her] conviction, payment of fine, satisfactory completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration, whichever is later, present a duly verified petition as provided in section 2C:52-7 to the Superior Court in the county in which the conviction was entered praying that such conviction and all records and information pertaining thereto be expunged."

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A-0662-05T5

RECORD IMPOUNDED

May 11, 2007