NEW BRUNSWICK — Steven Contreras, one of five people involved in the beating death of Divyendu Sinha in front of his family in 2010, repeatedly told the court during a status conference in 2012 that he understood that it was his decision alone to plead guilty and take the state’s plea deal.
However, on appeal, Contreras, 24, who was represented by Alan D. Bowman, said he was misled and coerced and should have been permitted to withdraw the guilty plea he entered.
A two judge panel, in a 17-page decision that was released on Aug. 7, denied Contreras’ appeal.
“[Contreras’] contention he was misled by comments the trial court made during a status conference is premised on a partial statement the court made, which the defendant takes entirely out of context,” the two-judge panel of the Superior Court of New Jersey’s Appellate Division said. “Considered in context, the court was doing nothing more than pointing out a possibility [Contreras] could be convicted even if he did not participate in the actual beating of the victim.”
The statements made during the status conference “leaves no doubt [Contreras] was fully informed of every material aspect of the new plea agreement and voluntarily entered his plea,” the two-judge panel said.
On the night of June 25, 2010, Sinha, his wife and their two adolescent children went for a walk around their neighborhood in Old Bridge, according to trial testimony.
Near the end of their walk, the family encountered four teenagers, who were “heated up” after a night of drinking and a road rage incident that occurred prior to the encounter.
Contreras, who was 17 years old at the time, was driving his friends around the night of the attack and when the teenagers saw Sinha and his family, they decided to fight them, according to the trial.
The teenagers subsequently attacked Sinha and his two sons as his wife looked on, according to the trial. Contreras remained in his car with the lights off and drove off with his friends after they fled the scene, according to the trial.
Three days later, Sinha was pronounced dead after being diagnosed with a hemorrhagic stroke.
Contreras, who was the first to go on trial, had been acquitted of murder and aggravated manslaughter in 2012, but the jury could not decide on reckless manslaughter and convicted him on several third and fourth degree assault, riot and hindering charges.
Contreras was facing up to four years in prison as part of a plea bargain with the state for his truthful testimony in the trial of two of the five people involved in the fatal beating.
However, Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz, who presided over the trial, found that Contreras lied and did not testify truthfully. He granted the state’s motion to rescind its plea deal.
In 2014, Contreras was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. He is eligible for parole on Oct. 5, 2020.
Contreras also appealed his sentence, calling it excessive and unduly punitive.
The two-judge panel countered and said in light of the facts of the case, the sentence does not “shock the judicial conscience.”