STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. SELWIN O. BASCOMÂ (11-05-0993, BERGEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-3231-15T2

Police stopped defendant after observing dangerous driving and a passenger throwing something from a vehicle; officers smelled marijuana and later found 11 small bags of marijuana on defendant and 49 grams of cocaine in the patrol car.
On May 25, 2011, Bascom pled guilty to fourth-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute pursuant to a plea agreement recommending two years' probation.
At the plea hearing and on the signed plea form, Bascom indicated he was a U.S. citizen; the plea form expressly warned that noncitizens may be deported as a consequence of a guilty plea.
Bascom’s presentence report listed Guyana as his birthplace but also indicated he was a U.S. citizen; he was sentenced July 15, 2011, and did not appeal.
In August 2014 Bascom filed a pro se PCR petition alleging he had told plea counsel he was not a U.S. citizen and that counsel failed to advise him of immigration consequences or correct the court record; he had by then been deported to Guyana.
The PCR court denied relief, finding Bascom’s sworn, post hoc assertions contradicted by the plea colloquy and plea form and therefore insufficient to establish a prima facie claim of ineffective assistance; this appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Bascom)	Held
Whether Bascom made a prima facie showing entitling him to an evidentiary hearing on ineffective assistance regarding immigration advice	The record (plea colloquy and plea form) shows Bascom represented he was a U.S. citizen; his bare, later assertion is insufficient to require a hearing	He swears he told plea counsel he was not a citizen and counsel failed to advise him or correct the court when he mistakenly said he was a citizen	Denied — the court found the record contradicts Bascom’s later assertion and bald allegations do not warrant a hearing
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to advise about immigration consequences or correct the court record	Counsel cannot be faulted when the defendant affirmatively represented citizenship to the court and on the plea form; counsel had no basis to warn about or prevent immigration consequences	Counsel was ineffective because he failed to inform Bascom of deportation risk and failed to correct Bascom’s misstatement that he was a citizen	Denied — where defendant affirmatively misrepresented citizenship at plea, counsel’s alleged failure to advise does not constitute ineffective assistance on this record

State v. Nuñez-Valdéz, 200 N.J. 129 (2009) (affirmatively misleading immigration advice can establish ineffective assistance)
State v. Jones, 219 N.J. 298 (2014) (bald assertions insufficient to obtain evidentiary hearing in PCR)
State v. DiFrisco, 137 N.J. 434 (1994) (standards for ineffective assistance claims)
State v. Fritz, 105 N.J. 42 (1987) (ineffective assistance legal framework)