RECORD IMPOUNDED NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ."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-0452-20 IN THE MATTER OF REGISTRANT J.P.A. ___________________ Submitted November 4, 2021 – Decided January 12, 2022 Before Judges Alvarez and Mitterhoff. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, Docket No. PG-20020005. Roddy Q. Bolanos, attorney for appellant (William M. Candia, on the brief). Mark Musella, Bergen County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Deepa S. Y. Jacobs, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM J.P.A. appeals from a September 8, 2020 order classifying him as a Tier II registrant. We reverse and remand for further proceedings. We discern the following facts from the record. J.P.A. is a native of Guatemala, and his primary language is Spanish. On March 3, 2016, J.P.A. was indicted on charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault (count one), second-degree sexual assault (count two), and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child (count three), after his girlfriend's granddaughter disclosed to her mother that J.P.A. had "kissed her for a very long time in her private area." Following the trial before the Honorable Christopher R. Kazlau, the jury issued a verdict on September 25, 2018 in which they deadlocked on the first two counts but found J.P.A. guilty on the third count. In a February 1, 2019 order, the trial judge dismissed the first two counts, sentenced J.P.A. to a term of five years of imprisonment on the third count, ordered parole supervision for life, ordered Megan's Law Registration, and awarded jail time credit as agreed by the parties. J.P.A. was also ordered to comply with Nicole's Law and mandated to pay a series of fines and penalties amounting to $1,205. On September 5, 2019, J.P.A. was released from New Jersey State Prison and was subsequently arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). J.P.A. retained Stephen Lagana for his immigration matter, and Lagana informed J.PA. that he would also handle J.P.A.'s criminal matter. On March 4, 2020, J.P.A. was released from ICE custody. On July 21, 2020, Sergeant William Crapara served J.P.A. a notification letter written in English, notifying J.P.A. of his proposed Megan's Law tier A-0452-20 2 designation and of the hearing scheduled for August 26, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. before a different judge. The notification stated, "due to the COVID-19 emergency health protocols the [c]ourthouse is NOT open to the public," and provided contact information if registrant decided to make a 5A request for a public defender. The notification also provided in pertinent part: Due to the current pandemic, all court appearances are conducted by computer or telephone. If you wish to participate or attend the hearing, you MUST provide a phone number or email address …
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