STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. VIRGIL D. BALDWIN (09-02-0398, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE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-3934-17T2
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
VIRGIL D. BALDWIN,
Defendant-Appellant.
___________________________
Submitted June 4, 2019 – Decided June 28, 2019
Before Judges Messano and Gooden Brown.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
Division, Monmouth County, Indictment No. 09-02-
0398.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for
appellant (Monique Moyse, Designated Counsel, on the
brief).
Christopher J. Gramiccioni, Monmouth County
Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Lisa Sarnoff
Gochman, of counsel and on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Following a joint trial, the jury convicted defendant Virgil D. Baldwin,
and his co-defendant Robert King, of second-degree robbery, and the judge
sentenced defendant to an extended twenty-year term of imprisonment subject
to the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2. State v. Baldwin, No. A-0562-
13 (App. Div. Dec. 14, 2015) (slip op. at 2). The Supreme Court denied
defendant's petition for certification. State v. Baldwin, 224 N.J. 527 (2016).
Defendant's pro se petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) alleged that
trial counsel provided ineffective assistance (IAC) in various respects. One
specific claim, echoed in appointed PCR counsel's brief, was that trial counsel
failed to request a continuance of the "plea cut-off" hearing despite defendant's
failing mental health. Defendant contended that because of counsel's failure, he
rejected the State's offer of a more favorable plea bargain and elected to go to
trial. Defendant requested an evidentiary hearing on the petition. See R. 3:22-
10(b) (entitling petitioner "to an evidentiary hearing only upon the establishment
of a prima facie case in support of post-conviction relief, a determination by the
court that there are material issues of disputed fact that cannot be resolved by
reference to the existing record, and a determination that an evidentiary hearing
is necessary to resolve the claims for relief").
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The PCR judge, Joseph W. Oxley, who was not the trial judge, denied the
petition without an evidentiary hearing. In a comprehensive written opinion that
accompanied his order, Judge Oxley considered all of defendant's IAC claims
and found they were procedurally barred by Rule 3:22-4 (with certain
exceptions, barring claims that could have been asserted, but were not asserted
in prior proceedings or appeal). Nevertheless, Judge Oxley proceeded to
consider the merits of the arguments raised, only one of which we need address.
Specifically, Judge Oxley rejected defendant's claim that trial counsel
provided ineffective assistance by not requesting an adjournment of the plea cut-
off hearing. Judge Oxley recited at length from the trial record, including the
trial judge's observations of defendant at the time of the hearing, and that judge's
conclusion after "several competency hearings" that defendant was "malingering
at all times prior to the trial." Judge Oxley concluded that based upon the trial
judge's specific findings, had defense counsel requested an adjournment, it
would have been denied.
Before us, defendant contends his IAC claims were not procedurally
barred, and asserts his entitlement to an evidentiary hearing on only one, i.e.,
that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by not requesting an
adjournment of the plea cut-off date because of defendant's mental health status
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at the time. Citing only medical testimony in the trial court during prior
competency hearings and comments during other prior proceedings, and baldly
asserting that he was "heavily medicated on . . . psychotropic drugs" on the day
of the plea cutoff, defendant argues he "could not knowingly participate in the
. . . hearing" and was entitled to an evidentiary hearing.
The argument lacks sufficient merit to warrant extensive discussion. Rule
2:11-3(e)(2). We affirm substantially for the reasons expressed by Judge Oxley
in his ruling on the merits of the claim. We add only the following.
Defendant made no prima facie showing that trial counsel provided
ineffective assistance under the two-pronged standard enunciated in Strickland
v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), and adopted by the Court in State v. Fritz,
105 N.J. 42 (1987). Any claim that defendant was decompensating because,
after evaluation at Ann Klein Forensic Hospital and being found competent to
stand trial, he stopped taking his medication while incarcerated at the county
jail, is a "bare assertion . . . insufficient to support a prima facie case of
ineffectiveness." State v. Cummings, 321 N.J. Super. 154, 171 (App. Div.
1999); see also R. 3:22-10(b) ("To establish a prima facie case, defendant must
demonstrate a reasonable likelihood that his or her claim, viewing the facts
alleged in the light most favorable to the defendant, will ultimately succeed on
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the merits."). Moreover, that assertion is inconsistent with defendant's pro se
claim that he was heavily medicated at the time.
Affirmed.
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