NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."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-4378-18T2 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KEITH LEWIS, Defendant-Respondent. ___________________________ Submitted October 10, 2019 – Decided November 7, 2019 Before Judges Whipple and Gooden Brown. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Somerset County, Indictment No. 08-12- 0915. Michael H. Robertson, Somerset County Prosecutor, attorney for appellant (Lauren R. Casale, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for respondent (Stefan Van Jura, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM By leave granted, the State appeals from the March 8, 2019 Law Division order granting defendant's petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) following an evidentiary hearing, and the May 6, 2019 order denying its motion for reconsideration. We affirm. We glean the following facts from the record. On December 17, 2008, a Somerset County grand jury returned a six-count indictment against defendant and a co-defendant. Defendant was charged with first-degree armed robbery, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 (count one); fourth-degree unlawful possession of an imitation firearm, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(e) (count two); second-degree eluding, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-2(b) (count five); and second-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12- 1(b)(6) (count six). Only the co-defendant was named in counts three and four of the indictment, and defendant was also charged with numerous motor vehicle violations. The charges stemmed from a robbery at a Radio Shack in North Plainfield at approximately 7:15 p.m. on November 19, 2008. After two partially masked men, one brandishing a gun, entered the store and demanded money from the store clerk, the store manager fled through the rear exit door and called the police. Following police pursuit of a vehicle occupied by two individuals, matching the description of the vehicle and the suspects provided by the store A-4378-18T2 2 manager, police apprehended defendant and the co-defendant after their vehicle crashed. The disabled vehicle, previously operated by defendant, contained items reported stolen from the Radio Shack. Additionally, defendant had the remnants of a partially torn, purple surgical-type latex glove on his wrist, similar to the gloves reportedly worn by the robbers, and a gun was found in the co- defendant's possession. The store clerk later identified defendant as one of the robbers, but confirmed he did not have the gun, and the store manager later identified the crashed vehicle as the vehicle the robbers used to flee the scene. On the eve of trial, defendant entered a negotiated guilty plea to the charges. The plea was entered after a Wade1 hearing was conducted, during which the trial court denied defendants' motion to exclude the store clerk's out- of-court show-up identification, and a Sands2 hearing was conducted, during which the court rejected defendant's challenge ...
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