Filed: Dec. 20, 2016
Latest Update: Dec. 20, 2016
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Vere D. Cannonier appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b), for which he was sentenced to a five-year custodial term with three and one-half years of parole ineligibility. The charge followed an incident in which law enforcement officers found a handgun beneath the driver's seat of a vehicle occupied by def
Summary: NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION PER CURIAM . Defendant Vere D. Cannonier appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b), for which he was sentenced to a five-year custodial term with three and one-half years of parole ineligibility. The charge followed an incident in which law enforcement officers found a handgun beneath the driver's seat of a vehicle occupied by defe..
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
PER CURIAM.
Defendant Vere D. Cannonier appeals from a judgment of conviction entered after he pled guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b), for which he was sentenced to a five-year custodial term with three and one-half years of parole ineligibility. The charge followed an incident in which law enforcement officers found a handgun beneath the driver's seat of a vehicle occupied by defendant and three co-defendants. During the plea colloquy, conducted in the presence of co-defendants and their attorneys, defendant testified he alone possessed the handgun, and co-defendants had no knowledge that he possessed it.
Defendant possessed the handgun on January 13, 2014, when "An Act Concerning the Possession of Certain Firearms," L. 2013, c. 117 (the Act), was in effect. The Act became effective August 8, 2013, and expired February 5, 2014. The Act provided in pertinent part:
1. Any person who has in his possession a handgun in violation of subsection b. of N.J.S. 2C:39-5 or a rifle or shotgun in violation of subsection c. of N.J.S 2C:39-5 on the effective date of this act may retain possession of that handgun, rifle, or shotgun for a period of not more than 180 days after the effective date of this act. During that time period, the possessor of that handgun, rifle, or shotgun shall:
(1) transfer that firearm to any person lawfully entitled to own or possess it; or
(2) voluntarily surrender that firearm pursuant to the provision of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-12.
[L. 2013, c. 117.]
Defendant argues on appeal that in view of the Act he did not commit a crime when he possessed the handgun on January 13, 2014. He further argues he was not required to establish he possessed the firearm on August 8, 2013, the effective date of the Act, because the State had the burden of proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Lastly, he contends he was unable to comply with the Act following his arrest because the arresting officers seized the handgun.
The State responds that the amnesty period provided in the Act was not intended to decriminalize N.J.S.A 2C:39-5(b), the weapons offense committed by defendant. The State contends to hold otherwise would be contrary to legislative intent.
Neither defendant nor anyone else raised any issue concerning the Act during defendant's plea colloquy. More significantly, defendant never filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Accordingly, we remand this matter to the trial court to permit defendant to file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Should he do so, the trial court, in the first instance, will have the opportunity to evaluate the motion under the appropriate standard of review and consider, among all other relevant factors, defendant's argument concerning the Act.
Remanded to permit defendant to file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. We do not retain jurisdiction.
