State v. Cortes
Defendant appealed his conviction for aggravated manslaughter pursuant to a plea deal. Defendant bought marijuana from a dealer, was robbed shortly thereafter, believed dealer was responsible and fired a handgun into car owned by dealer. Dealer's mother was in the car and was killed. Defendant asserted he did not know there was anyone in the car due to car's dark tinted windows.
Defendant signed a Miranda form and signed consent to search forms for his apartment, vehicle and cell phone. Defendant invoked his right to remain silent after talking with officers. Victim died days after the shooting, police served defendant with an amended complaint and defendant made statements to them.
Defendant moved to suppress his statements and trial court granted the motion in part. Defendant pled guilty and then moved to withdraw his guilty plea on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel and a colorable claim of innocence. Trial court denied the motion.
Defendant argued trial court erred in admitting his statement to police because his Miranda waivers were invalidated by officers' misrepresentations of law and promises of leniency. Court found defendant's waiver was made knowingly and intelligently, trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to vacate his plea and defendant failed to demonstrate his counsel was ineffective.
Source NJLJ April 19, 2021
