SYLLABUS
(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).
State of New Jersey v. William J. Allegro (A-119-2006)
Argued November 13, 2007 – Decided January 29, 2008
RIVERA-SOTO, J., writing for a unanimous Court.
The question in this appeal is whether defendant’s petition for post-conviction relief satisfies the two prongs of the Strickland/Fritz ineffective assistance of counsel standard.
On the morning of February 21, 1999, there was a fire in a Bradley Beach garage apartment that was leased to defendant, William J. Allegro. After extinguishing the fire, police and the fire marshal conducted an investigation into the cause. They discovered an indoor marijuana growing facility that included lights, heating lamps, potted plants and bags of harvested marijuana.
The proofs at trial against defendant were overwhelming. In addition to the evidence retrieved from the scene of the fire, the State presented the testimony of Allegro’s landlord. She testified that Allegro rented the garage, and, as far as she knew, he lived in the apartment. The resident of the home in front of the garage also testified that he thought Allegro lived in the garage apartment with his girlfriend. The fire marshal, who also served as the code enforcement officer, testified that the fire resulted from an electrical overload that caused a wire to overheat. He also testified that in 1994 he had issued a certificate of occupancy for the apartment to defendant’s brother, James, and that the certificate had been amended in 1998 to add defendant as a listed occupant.
The most damning testimony in the State’s case was a recorded telephone call from a person who contacted police shortly after the fire and identified himself using defendant’s nickname, “Skip.” The caller stated that he was “the one you are looking for.” In response to police asking whether the equipment and drugs involved defendant’s brother, James, the caller insisted that “[i]t’s got nothing to do with Jimmy or anybody else.” Allegro did not testify on his own behalf. He did, however, tender the testimony of his brother, James, who claimed that defendant had moved to Belmar some months before the fire. Defendant’s former girlfriend also testified, stating that on the day of the fire, Allegro informed her that there had been a fire at the garage apartment “he used to live at.”
Allegro was found guilty of first-degree operating a drug production facility and second degree possession with intent to distribute. Based on Allegro’s prior drug conviction, the State’s application for a mandatory extended term of imprisonment was granted. Allegro was sentenced to a mandatory extended term of fifty years imprisonment with a sixteen-year-eight-month parole ineligibility period. Allegros’ conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal and his petition for certification was denied.