STATE OF NEW JERSEY v. JOSHUA M. BLOODWORTH

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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-2517-15T3


STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

        Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

JOSHUA M. BLOODWORTH,

     Defendant-Appellant.
_____________________________

              Submitted December 12, 2017 - Decided January 30, 2018

              Before Judges Reisner and Mayer.

              On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey,
              Law Division, Atlantic County, Indictment No.
              14-01-0179.

              Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney
              for appellant (Joshua D. Sanders, Assistant
              Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the
              brief).

              Christopher S. Porrino, Attorney General,
              attorney for respondent (Claudia Joy Demitro,
              Deputy Attorney General, of counsel and on the
              brief).

PER CURIAM
     Defendant appeals from a December 10, 2015 order of the Law

Division denying his application to withdraw his guilty plea.      We

affirm.

     Defendant pled guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and

was sentenced to five years' imprisonment with forty-two months

of parole ineligibility.   On September 24, 2015, defendant filed

a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.     Defendant argued that he

was immune from prosecution on the gun charge under the amnesty

provision of the Graves Act.    See L. 2013, c. 117 § 2.

     Judge Bernard E. DeLury, Jr. rejected defendant's arguments

in a well-reasoned thirteen-page letter opinion.      Judge DeLury

properly applied the factors set forth in State v. Slater, 
198 N.J. 145 (2009), in denying withdrawal of defendant's guilty plea.

We affirm denial of defendant's motion for the reasons expressed

in Judge DeLury's comprehensive written decision.   We add only the

following comment.   Defendant's arguments on appeal are foreclosed

as a result of the Supreme Court's recent decision in State v.

Harper, 
229 N.J. 228 (2017).1    Judge DeLury's decision was both

proper and prescient.

     Affirmed.




1
  The Court's decision in Harper renders moot defendant's motion
to supplement the record before this court.

                                 2                          A-2517-15T3