KAPIL GOEL VS. NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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
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SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-1532-15T2
KAPIL GOEL,
Appellant,
v.
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS,
Respondent.
____________________________
Submitted June 7, 2017 – Decided June 29, 2017
Before Judges Accurso and Lisa.
On appeal from the New Jersey Department of
Corrections.
Kapil Goel, appellant pro se.
Christopher S. Porrino, Attorney General,
attorney for respondent (Lisa A. Puglisi,
Assistant Attorney General, of counsel;
Christopher C. Josephson, Deputy Attorney
General, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Kapil Goel appeals from a November 4, 2015 final agency
decision of the Department of Corrections denying his request
for an international transfer to serve out his sentence in the
United Kingdom pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:7d-1 and N.J.A.C. 10A:10-
6.1 to -6.9. Because there is no proof that the Commissioner's
decision was made with malicious intent or on a constitutionally
impermissible basis, we affirm. See Shimoni v. N.J. Dep't of
Corr., 412 N.J. Super. 218, 223-24 (App. Div. 2010).
Goel is a State prisoner housed at the Central Reception
and Assignment Facility in West Trenton. He was sentenced in
2009 to two consecutive six-year terms, each subject to the
periods of parole ineligibility and supervision required by the
No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, following his guilty
plea to two counts of vehicular homicide, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5, and
driving under the influence, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50. The 2008
accident giving rise to his convictions took the lives of his
two closest friends and roommates, passengers in his car when he
drove into a telephone pole at over ninety miles per hour after
a night of drinking. He is scheduled for release in September
2018, when he will begin serving his three-year parole
supervision term. He is, however, subject to an Immigration and
Customs Enforcement order of removal, apparently attendant to
the expiration of his H1-B visa while serving his sentence.
In September 2014, Goel, a dual citizen of the United
Kingdom and India, filed an application for an international
transfer to the U.K. pursuant to N.J.A.C. 10A:10-6.1. Goel
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noted he met the eligibility criteria of N.J.A.C. 10A:10-6.3,
and proposed his transfer to a U.K. prison would save the State
the costs of his incarceration, ease overcrowding and allow him
to "meet [his] family more often and help [him] towards a more
productive re-integration into the society." Goel explained
that although he received undergraduate and masters' degrees in
biomedical engineering at Rutgers and was employed thereafter in
Branchburg as an assistant scientist in a biotech company, he
had few friends and no family in New Jersey. His parents, both
physicians, lived in India but intended to retire to the U.K.1
where they would be able to visit him regularly and assist in
his reintegration into society upon release.
The DOC processed Goel's application and solicited comment
from the Attorney General, the Middlesex County Prosecutor and
the sentencing judge. See N.J.A.C. 10A:10-6.6(a)(5). The
sentencing judge raised no objection to the transfer, but the
Prosecutor was strenuously opposed. Although acknowledging that
Goel had no prior criminal record, the Prosecutor noted Goel's
blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit at the time of the
accident, and that he had been convicted of seven moving
violations in a three-year period between 2004 and 2006. The
1
Goel's mother passed away in 2015 while his application for
transfer was pending.
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Prosecutor asserted that one of the victims' families was
opposed to the transfer and there was no indication that
transferring Goel would ease overcrowding or custody problems
related to language or cultural differences. The Attorney
General likewise opposed the request.
The Commissioner denied Goel's transfer request in
September 2015, noting that international transfers are rare and
have been approved only "when there was significant evidence
that the transfer . . . would serve to meet critical social and
rehabilitative goals for the offender," absent here. Goel filed
an administrative appeal, contending the Commissioner should not
have considered the comments of the Prosecutor and the Attorney
General because they were received after the thirty-day period
permitted for comment in the regulation, and that his driving
record reflected, not recklessness, but having learned to drive
in India.
The Commissioner denied the appeal on November 4, 2015. He
determined, based on the materials provided, including the
comments of law enforcement and Goel's history, that he was
"educated and gainfully employed in the United States," that
"there are no social or rehabilitative barriers that would
warrant [his] transfer to another country" and that "transfer
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would not serve to meet critical social or rehabilitative
goals."
Goel appeals, contending the DOC failed to follow its own
regulations and to consider material information presented,
resulting in the infliction of "atypical and significant
hardship" on him. We disagree.
Our review of the Commissioner's denial of a prisoner's
application for international transfer is extremely constrained,
as the usual standard of review of agency decisions, already
limited, does not apply. Shimoni, supra, 412 N.J. Super. at
223-24. Although the Department is required to follow its own
regulations governing applications for transfer, there is no
entitlement to a hearing, "and the Commissioner's decision may
not be overturned unless made with malicious intent or on a
constitutionally impermissible basis. Id. at 224.
Applying that standard here provides no basis for reversal
of the Commissioner's decision. The purpose of the statute
permitting international transfer of State prisoners is to
"contribute to the easing of overcrowded conditions in the State
prisons" and "increase rehabilitation of the person and reduce
custody problems in the State related to cultural and language
differences." Senate Health and Welfare Committee, Statement to
Senate Bill No. 2229, reprinted in N.J.S.A. 30:7D-1. The
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Commissioner denied Goel's transfer based on the objections
received by the Prosecutor, who is statutorily permitted to
comment, and the failure of the transfer to advance any of the
statute's goals.2
The Commissioner's expressed reasons for the denial bear no
hint of malice or constitutional infirmity. Although both the
Middlesex County Prosecutor and the Attorney General submitted
their comments beyond the thirty-day period allotted, the delay
does not appear attributable to the Department, which made
multiple requests for the information. We certainly cannot find
the Commissioner erred in considering the comments of law
enforcement under those circumstances. Cf. King v. N.J. Racing
Comm'n, 103 N.J. 412, 421 (1986) (discussing the difference
between agency efficiency and agency responsibility). Goel's
contention that the Commissioner was likely to have approved his
2
It appears from the record that, although Goel had been
admitted to graduate school in the U.K. shortly before the
accident and was preparing to matriculate there, he had not
lived in the U.K. since he was seven years old. Goel spent the
bulk of his upbringing in India. His parents, both physicians,
were still living there at the time Goel applied for transfer to
the U.K. to serve the remainder of his sentence. Although
Goel's parents were apparently intending to retire to the U.K.
in the event of his transfer, the record does not demonstrate
any existing network of family or friends at the time he made
his transfer request. The record further demonstrates that Goel
had adjusted to his incarceration, taking classes and
participating fully in the opportunities provided for input into
the administration of the facility.
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request in the absence of the belatedly-received comments is
both completely speculative and ignores the Commissioner's
finding that the transfer failed to advance any of the
Legislature's goals in enacting the transfer statute.
While it is unfortunate that Goel has been imprisoned so
far from his family and that his mother has passed during his
incarceration, those facts are insufficient to reverse the
Commissioner's decision denying Goel's request for an
international transfer.
Affirmed.
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