NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."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-3219-15T1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. ZBIGNIEW KOLODZIEJ, Defendant-Appellant. _______________________________ Submitted March 27, 2017 – Decided April 5, 2017 Before Judges Sabatino and Haas. On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County, Indictment No. 04-06-0896. Law Offices of Peter G. Aziz & Associates LLC, attorneys for appellant (Peter G. Aziz, on the brief). Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Christopher W. Hsieh, Chief Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Zbigniew Kolodziej appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief ("PCR"). An immigrant from Poland, defendant contends that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel when he pled guilty to an offense in 2004. He alleges he was not provided by his attorney with sufficient advice concerning the deportation consequences of his guilty plea. We affirm. Defendant was charged in October 2004 with assault by auto arising out of an incident in November 2003 in which the car he was driving struck another vehicle on the highway. 1 Defendant abandoned his car and fled from the scene of the accident. Police found an empty bottle of vodka in the car. When he was apprehended by the police a short time later, his blood alcohol content was measured at .224, well over the legal limit. Defendant negotiated through his counsel a plea agreement with the State. He appeared before the trial court on October 4, 2004, and pled guilty to the assault by auto charge. He admitted on the record to the court that he was not a United States citizen, and was advised that he could get deported as a consequence of his guilty plea. Consistent with the plea agreement, defendant was sentenced on January 6, 2005 to a three-year probationary term with 270 days 1 The appellate record does not contain a transcript of the plea and sentencing hearings. These facts are derived from the parties' briefs, defendant's appendix, and the PCR hearing. In any event, these omissions are inconsequential because defendant does not appear to contest the PCR judge's quotations from the plea and sentencing proceedings. 2 A-3219-15T1 in the county jail. Both at the plea hearing and sentencing, the court provided defendant with a Polish interpreter. Defendant did not file a direct appeal. Eight years later, defendant filed his PCR petition in November 2013. He alleged that he had been deprived of his constitutional rights at his plea and sentencing because allegedly he was not sufficiently alerted to the likelihood that he would be deported based upon this conviction. The trial court ruled that defendant had no viable claim of ineffectiveness under ...
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