Justia Delaware Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in February, 2012
by
Defendant was indicted on nine counts, including aggravated menacing, reckless endangering, and possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited (PDWBPP). At issue was whether the Superior Court properly applied Delaware's habitual offender statute when it imposed an enhanced minimum sentence on a person whose fourth felony was PDWBPP. Because the indictment identified a non-violent felony as the crime that made him a person "prohibited," defendant argued that his fourth conviction was not a violent felony. The trial court held otherwise and the court agreed. A person became a violent felon the first time that person was convicted of one of the statutorily designated violent felonies. Thereafter, the person retained the status of "violent felon" for any future convictions. Accordingly, defendant's PDWBPP conviction was a violent felony and his minimum sentence was the 8 year statutory maximum penalty for that offense. View "French v. State" on Justia Law

by
Defendant appealed from the Superior Court's denial of his untimely motion to suppress. On appeal, defendant contended that the Superior Court abused its discretion by not permitting him to move to suppress, out of time, his incriminating statement to a police officer on grounds that he was arrested without probable cause and that his incriminating statement was involuntary. Defendant had not shown that the motion was based on evidence not available as of the deadline for motions to suppress, or that extraordinary circumstances precluded the filing of a timely motion. Therefore, the court concluded that defendant's contention was without merit because the Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion as untimely where defendant was not precluded from seeking relief pursuant to a Rule 61 motion for post-conviction relief. View "Davis v. State" on Justia Law

by
Plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant, alleging that she suffered injuries when defendant rear ended her car. The trial court held that plaintiff failed to state an opinion on causation and denied a request for a 24 hour continuance to clarify the expert's report. Plaintiff appealed on two grounds: (1) the expert report was sufficient to survive the motion for summary judgment; and (2) the trial judge abused his discretion by denying the continuance. The court held that, although plaintiff's expert failed to provide an opinion on causation, the trial judge abused his discretion by refusing to grant the 24 hour continuance. Without a continuance to obtain clarification on the expert testimony, plaintiff suffered prejudice in the form of a final judgment dismissing her claim. Accordingly, the court reversed the judgment. View "Roache, et al. v. Charney, et al." on Justia Law

by
The court consolidated appeals concerning accomplice testimony to determine whether a trial judge must give a cautionary instruction on testimony offered by a witness who claimed to have been defendant's accomplice, even if the defense did not request it, and to determine the appropriate content of an accomplice instruction. The court held that a trial judge who failed to give an instruction about accomplice testimony committed plain error. The court also held that trial judges must give a modified version of the instruction from Bland v. State whenever the State offered accomplice testimony against the accused. Combined, these two holdings provided clear guidance to trial judges: give the modified Bland instruction or commit plain error. View "Brooks v. State; Owens v. State" on Justia Law

by
Defendant was convicted of attempted robbery in the first degree and sentenced to 25 years at level V. Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing the following: (1) the trial judge erroneously denied him a missing evidence instruction; (2) an officer's out of court identification procedure was impermissibly suggestive and unreliable; (3) the trial judge abused his discretion by asking the prospective jury panel two voir dire questions pertaining to mental illnesses and illicit drug use; (4) the manner in which the trial judge conducted his colloquy violated defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial; (5) there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction; (6) the trial judge erred by not, sua sponte, expounding upon the wording of the statue or providing a single-theory unanimity instruction; (7) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct; (8) defendant's conviction and sentencing for both attempted carjacking and attempted robbery first degree constituted prohibited cumulative punishment in violation of constitutional protections against double jeopardy; and (9) the trial judge made an erroneous finding of fact by concluding that defendant had rejected the State's modified plea agreement. The court found that the issues defendant raised had no merit and therefore affirmed the judgment. View "Weber v. State" on Justia Law

by
This case arose when plaintiff posted a cash bail for a criminal defendant and defendant failed to appear for a Rule to Show Cause hearing. Plaintiff subsequently appealed from a Superior Court judgment that granted the State's motion to dismiss its petition for a writ of certiorari. Plaintiff raised three arguments on appeal. The court affirmed the judgment, holding that plaintiff's contentions, that the Superior Court erred when it applied the wrong standard for reviewing a motion to dismiss, the Superior Court committed an error of law by exceeding its jurisdiction, and the record provided to the Superior Court was inaccurate and incomplete, were without merit. View "American Funding Serv. v. State of Delaware, et al." on Justia Law

by
Plaintiff sued defendant for personal injuries he sustained in a bicycle accident when he used defendant's parking lot as a short cut while riding his bicycle. Plaintiff claimed that defendant failed to maintain a safe premises, thereby breaching a duty defendant owed to plaintiff as a licensee. On appeal from summary judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff claimed that the Superior Court erred by holding that he was a trespasser, and not a licensee. Because commercial property owners/occupiers were held to the same common law standard whether or not the claimant was a licensee or a trespasser - namely to refrain from willful and wanton conduct - the court affirmed the judgment. View "Simpson v. Colonial Parking, Inc." on Justia Law

by
The Board appealed from a Superior Court decision reversing the Board's denial of the area variance application of appellants. Appellants had purchased the property at issue, made renovations and improvements on the property, including adding a barbecue area and building a shed in the setback area. The Board denied the application on grounds that appellants did not satisfy the statutory requirements of title 9, section 6917 of the Delaware Code. The court held that the plain language of title 9, section 6917 precluded the Board from granting a variance where, as here, appellants created the exceptional practical difficulty. The court also held that the decision of the Board that the property was being reasonably utilized without the non-conforming structures was supported by substantial evidence and was free from legal error. Accordingly, the court reversed the decision of the Superior Court. View "The Board of Adjustment of Sussex County v. Verleysen & Kotowski" on Justia Law

by
Defendant appealed from a Family Court sentencing order initially entered when he was a juvenile where he robbed a woman with a BB gun. Defendant contended that the Family Court did not have the authority to sentence him, at the outset, to twelve months of adult probation following his juvenile commitment. Because the statute the Family Court relied upon affirmatively provided only two circumstances, not present in this case, where the Family Court could sentence a juvenile to adult probation, the court found that the General Assembly intended to limit the authority of the Family Court to impose adult consequences on the juvenile. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for a correction of the sentence order. View "Brown v. State" on Justia Law

by
Defendant was convicted of attempted murder in the first degree, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and possession of ammunition by a person prohibited. On appeal, defendant argued that his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation was violated when the Superior Court admitted into evidence hearsay statements by persons who did not testify at the trial. The court concluded that the erroneous admission of the testimonial hearsay evidence was harmless and therefore, the judgment of the Superior Court must be affirmed. View "Wheeler v. State" on Justia Law