NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ."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-0649-18T2 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. SHANIKAH S. DANIELS, a/k/a SHANIKA DANIELS, Defendant-Appellant. Submitted June 2, 2020 – Decided June 16, 2020 Before Judges Fisher and Rose. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County, Indictment No. 11-11- 0749. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Elizabeth H. Smith, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Michael H. Robertson, Somerset County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Amanda Paige Frankel, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Shanikah Daniels appeals an order denying her petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) following an evidentiary hearing. Because defendant failed to demonstrate her trial counsel's "deficient performance prejudiced the defense," Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687 (1984), 1 we affirm. For her part in crimes against a seventeen-year-old girl, defendant was charged in a separate indictment from her two accomplices with first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping, third-degree aggravated assault, and several second- and fourth-degree weapons offenses. Prior to trial, the State extended an open plea offer to defendant, which meant the State did not make a sentencing recommendation but reserved the right to argue for a sentence in the second- degree range. Defendant rejected that offer and a jury convicted her of nearly all charges, except robbery and one weapons offense; she was sentenced to an aggregate seven-year prison term, subject to the eighty-five percent parole disqualifier under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2. 1 In Strickland, the United States Supreme Court established a two-part test, requiring a defendant seeking PCR on ineffective assistance of counsel grounds to demonstrate: (1) the particular manner in which counsel's performance was deficient; and (2) that the deficiency prejudiced defendant's right to a fair trial . Ibid. Our Supreme Court adopted the Strickland test in State v. Fritz, 105 N.J. 42, 58 (1987). A-0649-18T2 2 One month later, the trial judge resentenced defendant solely to impose the registration requirements under Megan's Law. See N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(b)(2) (requiring registration as a sex offender for certain non-sexual offenses, including kidnapping of a minor). We affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence in our prior unpublished opinion. State v. Daniels, No. A-5451-12 (App. Div. Dec. 9, 2014). After the Supreme Court denied certification, defendant filed a petition for PCR, contending her trial counsel was ineffective by failing to advise that her kidnapping charge triggered Megan's Law consequences. The State conceded defendant established counsel's deficiency and was thereby entitled to an evidentiary hearing. But the State further argued defendant could not establish prejudice under the second Strickland prong because defendant's ineffectiveness claim was "premised solely on the speculative success of a theoretical plea negotiation in a multi-defendant case." Defendant testified at the ...
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