Opinion
DOCKET NO. A-4463-13T2
08-19-2016
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. AARON J. HENTZ, Defendant-Appellant.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Brian P. Keenan, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief). Sean F. Dalton, Gloucester County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Vanessa I. Craveiro, Assistant Prosecutor, on the brief).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION Before Judges Reisner and Whipple. On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Gloucester County, Indictment No. 13-02-0183. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Brian P. Keenan, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief). Sean F. Dalton, Gloucester County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Vanessa I. Craveiro, Assistant Prosecutor, on the brief). PER CURIAM
Defendant Aaron J. Hentz appeals from his conviction for fourth-degree operating a motor vehicle during a period of license suspension for a second offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI), N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26(b). Defendant was convicted after a jury trial and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, with a mandatory six-month period of parole ineligibility. See State v. French, 437 N.J. Super. 333, 336 (App. Div. 2014), certif. denied, 220 N.J. 575 (2015). Defendant was also convicted by the court of the disorderly person's offense of hindering apprehension, N.J.S.A. 2C:29-3(b)(4), based on defendant's having given the arresting officer a false name. He received a concurrent six-month term for that conviction.
The court also found defendant guilty of several motor vehicle violations; they are not the subject of, or pertinent to, this appeal. --------
The pertinent facts can be stated briefly. Officer Tirado pulled over the car defendant was driving, after noticing that the vehicle was significantly damaged and appeared to be unsafe. When asked for his license, registration, and proof of insurance, defendant told the officer he did not have those documents and that his license was suspended. Defendant then gave the officer a false name and date of birth. Thereafter, the officer arrested him.
Following an N.J.R.E. 104 hearing, the trial judge ruled that the State could introduce defendant's false statements to the officer as evidence of consciousness of guilt, subject to an appropriate limiting instruction. See State v. Williams, 190 N.J. 114, 125 (2007) (noting that giving a false name is admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt). At the trial, the State presented that testimony. The State also introduced unrebutted evidence that, at the time Officer Tirado arrested him, defendant's license was suspended for his second DWI conviction. The defense did not present any evidence at the trial. Consequently, wholly apart from the false statements to the officer, there was overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt on the charge of violating N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26(b).
On this appeal, defendant raises the following point for our consideration:
THE TRIAL JUDGE'S ERROR IN ADMITTING TESTIMONY ABOUT HENTZ PROVIDING A FALSE NAME VIOLATED [] N.J.R.E. 404(b), AND DEPRIVED HENTZ OF HIS RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL BECAUSE THE MINIMAL PROBATIVE VALUE OF THAT TESTIMONY, COMBINED WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GUILT CHARGE, WAS FAR OUTWEIGHED BY ITS PREJUDICIAL EFFECT.
We review the trial judge's evidentiary ruling for abuse of discretion. State v. Covell, 157 N.J. 554, 564 (1999). We find none, and we affirm for the reasons stated by the trial judge. We also note that the judge thoroughly instructed the jury, twice, as to the limited purpose for which they could consider this evidence. Moreover, even if the court had erred in admitting the testimony, any error would have been harmless, in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt. See R. 2:10-2; State v. Kuropchak, 221 N.J. 368, 383 (2015); State v. Macon, 57 N.J. 325, 338 (1971). Defendant's arguments are without sufficient merit to warrant further discussion. R. 2:11-3(e)(2).
Affirmed. I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original on file in my office.
CLERK OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION