STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDREW J. CONTALDI (09-01-0069, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJanuary 16, 2019
DocketA-4621-16T2
StatusUnpublished

This text of STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDREW J. CONTALDI (09-01-0069, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDREW J. CONTALDI (09-01-0069, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDREW J. CONTALDI (09-01-0069, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), (N.J. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ."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-4621-16T2

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

ANDREW J. CONTALDI,

Defendant-Appellant.

Argued November 26, 2018 – Decided January 16, 2019

Before Judges Fasciale and Rose.

On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Monmouth County, Indictment No. 09-01- 0069.

Robert Carter Pierce, Designated Counsel, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Robert Carter Pierce, on the briefs).

Lisa Sarnoff Gochman, Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Christopher J. Gramiccioni, Monmouth County Prosecutor, attorney; Lisa Sarnoff Gochman, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM Defendant Andrew Contaldi appeals from an April 28, 2017 order denying

his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing.

After reviewing the record in light of the contentions advanced on appeal, we

reverse and remand for an evidentiary hearing.

I.

We incorporate by reference the facts and procedural history set forth in

our prior unpublished opinion. State v. Contaldi, No. A-5408-10 (App. Div.

Dec. 12, 2013) (slip op. at 2-8). In sum, between December 2007 and May 2008,

defendant, his half-brother Michael Maldonado, Philip Dorsi, III, and Lance

Schaller, Jr. conspired to distribute an aggregate quantity of one-half ounce or

more of cocaine, and distributed ten grams or less of cocaine to undercover

officers on fifteen occasions in Old Bridge, Woodbridge, Keyport, Matawan and

Aberdeen.1 Conceding he sold cocaine, "The sole issue in the case was whether

[defendant] was a 'leader' of a drug trafficking network."

Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of fifty-five counts of

second- and third-degree drug offenses, and one count of first-degree leader of

a narcotics trafficking network, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-3. Defendant was sentenced to

1 The aggregate quantity of cocaine distributed was less than two ounces. A-4621-16T2 2 an aggregate term of life imprisonment with twenty-five years of parole

ineligibility.

Pertinent to this appeal, on April 6, 2009, Dorsi attempted to plead guilty

to second-degree conspiracy and related drug offenses, in exchange for a seven-

year term of imprisonment with two years of parole ineligibility. During his

allocution, however, Dorsi stated that defendant was only one of his cocaine

suppliers, and did not provide him with a cellphone or car. In essence, Dorsi

denied that defendant was the "leader" of the conspiracy.

Because Dorsi's statements varied from the State's proofs, the assistant

prosecutor recommended that the court refrain from entering defendant's guilty

plea. Although the assistant prosecutor did not intend to call Dorsi as a witness

at defendant's trial, she was concerned that Dorsi's allocution provided a basis

for defendant to "call [Dorsi] as a witness and he c[ould] come in and say oh,

no, [defendant] was[ not] a leader, he was just my drug dealer."

The court adjourned Dorsi's plea hearing to review the State's discovery.

One week later, the trial court refused to accept Dorsi's guilty plea, finding Dorsi

was "not wholly forthcoming" because his factual basis only told the court "part

of the story." Dorsi's trial was scheduled for June 15, 2010, jointly with

defendant's trial. However, in the interim, Dorsi cooperated with the State and

A-4621-16T2 3 pled guilty to second- and third-degree drug offenses on January 19, 2010. The

State recommended a five-year term of imprisonment without a term of parole

ineligibility. In exchange, Dorsi agreed to testify truthfully against any co -

defendants at trial.

Thereafter, Dorsi informed the State he would not testify against

defendant. It is unclear from the record whether the State memorialized the

conversation in a writing, but that information was not provided to defendant's

trial counsel. Finding Dorsi's change of heart constituted a material breach , the

court determined the plea agreement was "null and void" and vacated Dorsi's

guilty plea on June 21, 2010. Defendant's trial counsel was present for that

hearing, but the substance of Dorsi's April 2010 hearings was not set forth on

the record. By that date, defendant had rejected the State's plea offer, i.e., a

fifty-year term of imprisonment with twenty-five years of parole ineligibility.

Three months later, Dorsi entered an "open-ended" guilty plea to all charges for

which he was indicted without a sentencing recommendation from the State.

Maldonado also cooperated with the State and pled guilty to second- and

third-degree drug offenses in February 2010. In exchange, the State

recommended an eight-year term of imprisonment with four-years of parole

ineligibility. Maldonado's factual basis supporting his guilty plea included

A-4621-16T2 4 statements that he worked for defendant. For example, before defendant was

incarcerated for a violation of probation, he gave Maldonado a package of

cocaine to "run [defendant's] business while he was gone." Maldonado did not

testify at defendant's trial.

Immediately after his arrest, Schaller cooperated with law enforcement

officers and was released on his own recognizance. He agreed to testify against

defendant and pled guilty to three drug offenses in exchange for a probationary

recommendation by the State.

Notably, by correspondence dated April 24, 2009, defendant's trial

counsel had requested that the State provide additional discovery, including "all

notes of conversations, notes of meetings, written and oral plea offers, all

pro[ff]ers of testimony, and all statements from co-defendants . . . Schaller . . .

and/or . . . Dorsi." Citing N.J.R.E. 410, 2 the State refused to provide "any

2 N.J.R.E. 410 provides, in pertinent part:

[E]vidence of a plea of guilty which was later withdrawn, of any statement made in the course of that plea proceeding, and of any statement made during plea negotiations when either no guilty plea resulted or a guilty plea was later withdrawn, is not admissible in any . . . criminal proceeding against the person who made the plea or statement or who was the subject of the plea negotiations. A-4621-16T2 5 information regarding any possible on[]going plea negotiations with the co-

defendants."

Defendant's convictions were upheld on direct appeal. Contaldi, slip op.

at 31. Although defendant did not appeal his sentence, the parties agreed that

the judgment of conviction (JOC) incorrectly included two Drug Enforcement

and Demand Reduction (DEDR) penalties. Accordingly, "We remand[ed] for

the limited purpose of correcting the [JOC] to reflect the imposition of one

DEDR penalty . . . ." Id. at 30-31. The Supreme Court thereafter denied

certification. State v. Contaldi, 218 N.J. 276 (2014).

Defendant then filed the present PCR petition alleging the State violated

his Sixth Amendment right to compulsory process and Brady v. Maryland, 373

U.S.

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STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ANDREW J. CONTALDI (09-01-0069, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-new-jersey-vs-andrew-j-contaldi-09-01-0069-monmouth-county-and-njsuperctappdiv-2019.