Filed: Aug. 20, 2015
Latest Update: Aug. 20, 2015
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Steven St. Fleur appeals from the January 31, 2014 Law Division order denying his motion to correct an illegal sentencing, arguing the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, limited his parole ineligibility to eighty-five percent of his thirty-year sentence. As the sentencing court imposed the mandatory minimum sentence on a conviction for first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(b), we affir
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Steven St. Fleur appeals from the January 31, 2014 Law Division order denying his motion to correct an illegal sentencing, arguing the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, limited his parole ineligibility to eighty-five percent of his thirty-year sentence. As the sentencing court imposed the mandatory minimum sentence on a conviction for first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(b), we affirm..
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
PER CURIAM.
Defendant Steven St. Fleur appeals from the January 31, 2014 Law Division order denying his motion to correct an illegal sentencing, arguing the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, limited his parole ineligibility to eighty-five percent of his thirty-year sentence. As the sentencing court imposed the mandatory minimum sentence on a conviction for first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(b), we affirm.
In July 2001, an Essex County grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant with second-degree conspiracy to commit murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 and N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, (count one); two counts of first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) and (2) (counts two and three); second-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(1) (count four); third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b (count five); and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a (count six).
In June 2003, the jury found defendant guilty of counts one, two, five, and six. The trial court sentenced defendant on September 4, 2003. Counts one and six merged with count two, for a term of thirty years of incarceration without parole, followed by five years of parole supervision pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2c. The court also imposed a concurrent four years of incarceration on count five.
On October 25, 2013, defendant moved to correct an illegal sentence. The Law Division denied the motion on January 31, 2014, and this appeal followed.
On appeal, defendant argues:
POINT I:
THE NO EARLY RELEASE ACT IS MANDATORY, AND FAILURE OF THE TRIAL COURT TO IMPOSE THE STATUTORY PERIOD OF PAROLE INELIGIBILITY RENDERS APPELLANT'S SENTENCE ILLEGAL.
We disagree.
A sentence may be illegal because it either exceeds the penalties authorized by statute, or was not imposed in accordance with law. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2a; State v. Murray, 162 N.J. 240, 246-47 (2000), certif. denied, 172 N.J. 179. As an issue of law, we give no special deference to the motion court's decision. State v. Schubert, 212 N.J. 295, 303-04 (2012).
N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3b(1) provides:
[A] person convicted of murder shall be sentenced . . . to a term of [thirty] years, during which the person shall not be eligible for parole, or be sentenced to a specific term of years which shall be between [thirty] years and life imprisonment of which the person shall serve [thirty] years before being eligible for parole.
NERA imposes a minimum of eighty-five percent parole ineligibility on certain first and second-degree crimes. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2a. However, NERA "shall not be construed or applied to reduce the time that must be served before eligibility for parole by an inmate sentenced to a mandatory minimum period of incarceration." N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2b; see also State v. Manzie, 168 N.J. 113, 121 (2001) ("[M]urder defendants continue to be subject to the exact sentencing scheme provided in the murder statute: thirty years to life.").
Accordingly, NERA does not limit the thirty-year mandatory minimum imposed by N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3b(1). As the sentence was not illegal, we affirm the denial of defendant's motion.
Affirmed.
