STATE VS. RAYMOND MALDON A-1473-09T1
Defendant presented legally competent evidence that (a) his attorney misinformed him that his guilty plea to criminal sexual contact could not result in his later civil commitment under the Sexually Violent Predator Act, and (b) he would have insisted on going to trial if he had been correctly advised. Defendant filed the PCR petition immediately after he was civilly committed based, in part, on his guilty plea in this case. Mistakenly finding that defendant was uninformed rather than misinformed, and concluding that his claim was barred because it arose prior to State v. Bellamy, 178 N.J. 127 (2003), the trial judge denied the petition. Because the petition involved emerging legal issues, and defendant presented a prima facie case on both Strickland prongs, we concluded that the case should be decided based on a complete record and remanded the matter for an evidentiary hearing. 10-27-11
