IN THE MATTER OF DELINDA HOLMES, PATERSON HOUSING AUTHORITY(CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION), A-5699-14T2

Record impounded; opinion not for general publication.
Defendant R.F. convicted by jury of six counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault of his daughter and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Aggregate sentence of 34 years with NERA; parole ineligibility but reduced on appeal to 10 years to be served under supervision.
PCR petition denied June 4, 2015; judge applied Strickland/Fritz standard and found no deficiency or prejudice.
Appeal argues appellate counsel ineffective for not challenging prosecutor misconduct in opening statement; trial had prosecutor remarks deemed not to deprive fair trial.
Prior direct-appeal affirmance: State v. R.F., No. A-5423-11 (App. Div. Sept. 5, 2013).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether appellate counsel was ineffective for not challenging prosecutorial misconduct.	R.F. argues misconduct deprived right to fair trial.	R.F. contends appellate counsel should have challenged remarks.	PCR denial affirmed; misconduct not proven to prejudice.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Fritz, 105 N.J. 42 (N.J. 1987) (guides prejudice prong and performance standard)
Worlock, 117 N.J. 596 (N.J. 1990) (failure to raise issue on appeal not per se ineffective assistance)
Frost, 158 N.J. 76 (N.J. 1999) (prosecutorial misconduct standard and remedies; consideration of objections and curative actions)
Ramseur, 106 N.J. 123 (N.J. 1987) (necessity of conduct to merit reversal for prosecutorial misconduct)
Marshall, 123 N.J. 1 (N.J. 1991) (tenor of trial and responses to improprieties considered)
Locurto, 157 N.J. 463 (N.J. 1999) (deference to trial-finding of facts in PCR context)
Harris, 181 N.J. 391 (N.J. 2004) (law-of-the-case-style analysis for legal conclusions on appeal)
Jack, 144 N.J. 240 (N.J. 1996) (reasonable competence standard for counsel performance)
Timmendequas, 161 N.J. 515 (N.J. 1999) (prejudice/plain-error considerations for improper remarks)