STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ALPHONSE J. ANDERSON (16-06-0388, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)


NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."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-3724-17T2 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. ALPHONSE J. ANDERSON, a/k/a, ALPONSE ANDERSON, ANDERWSON J. ALPHONSE, ANDERSON ALPHONSE, and, ANDERSON ALPONSE, Defendant-Appellant. ______________________________ Submitted December 2, 2019 – Decided March 6, 2020 Before Judges Ostrer and Susswein. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, Indictment No. 16-06-0388. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Frank M. Gennaro, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Lyndsay V. Ruotolo, Acting Union County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Kelsey Alina Ball, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant, Alphonse Anderson, appeals from his trial convictions for possession of controlled dangerous substances with intent to distribute and simple possession of those same substances. One of the critical issues at trial was whether defendant resided in the apartment where the drugs were found during the execution of a search warrant. Defendant on appeal contends that the trial court erred in denying his Fourth Amendment motion to suppress. Defendant does not challenge the validity of the search warrant or the manner in which the search of the apartment was executed. Rather, he contests the seizure of a house key found on his person that linked him to the apartment. That seizure occurred at the time of the raid but a block away from the apartment. Defendant also contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude medical correspondence found during the warrant search that also linked him to the apartment. That motion was not based on the Fourth Amendment but rather on the prosecutor's failure to disclose the documents in a timely manner. Finally, defendant contends the sentence imposed is illegal and excessive. A-3724-17T2 2 We have reviewed the record in light of the applicable legal standards and conclude that the trial court properly denied defendant's Fourth Amendment motion to suppress physical evidence. The house key at issue was seized during the course of a lawful “Terry”1 stop that escalated to an arrest when the reasonable suspicion that justified the detention ripened into probable cause. We also conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to exclude medical documents bearing defendant's name based on the State’s failure to turn the documents over in discovery in a timely fashion. The remedy fashioned by the trial court for the discovery violation — providing defense counsel an opportunity to review the documents before they were admitted into evidence—was adequate given the surrounding circumstances. Although we do not condone the prosecutor's failure to obtain the discoverable documents from the Elizabeth Police Department in a timely fashion, we conclude defendant was not ...

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