Justia Delaware Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Family Court Judge Arlene Minus Coppadge was subject to disciplinary proceedings for failing to properly report matters held under advisement. Specifically, this matter arose from two instances of delay in the disposition of cases pending before the judge and her subsequent failure to include those cases on the "90 day report" required by Administrative Directive 175. Upon review of the complaint, the Supreme Court concluded that the judge violated Rule 2.5(C) of the Delaware Judges' Code of Judicial Conduct, and was accordingly sanctioned. View "In Re: The Honorable Arlene Minus Coppadge" on Justia Law

A state trooper stopped a member of Hells Angels for speeding. He refused to respond when asked where he was going. The trooper then informed him that he would be pat down. Defendant revealed he possessed two handguns. Defendant appealed his conviction on firearms charges, maintaining the trooper lacked probable cause to stop and arrest him. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed with the superior court judge who suppressed evidence of the firearms because, under the totality of the circumstances, there was no particularized, reasonable, articulable suspicion that defendant was then armed and dangerous. View "Delaware v. Abel" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellant Frederick S. DeJohn, II appealed a Superior Court violation of probation ("VOP") sentencing order. On appeal, Defendant claimed that the Superior Court judge sentenced him with a closed mind and that the sentencing order contains a calculation error. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the sentencing order did contain a calculation error, and that that when this matter was remanded for a recalculation of Defendant's sentence, he should be resentenced entirely by another judge. Therefore, the Court did not reach Defendant's issue of whether the Superior Court judge's comments evidenced a closed mind. View "DeJohn v. Delaware" on Justia Law

The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this case was whether the Chancellor correctly interpreted 15 Del. C. Sec. 3306, which allows political parties to replace candidates who become incapacitated. The Court held that under the statute, the term "incapacity" includes situations where a candidate would be practically incapable of fulfilling the duties of office in a minimally adequate way. In determining whether the standard was met, the Chancellor could consider events that occurred after the candidate withdrew. In this case, the Court concluded the withdrawing candidate was incapacitated and therefore affirmed the Court of Chancery's judgment. View "Sussex County Dept. of Elections, et al. v. Sussex County Republican Committee, et al." on Justia Law

In this appeal, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether a derivative complaint challenging a corporate board's decision to pay certain executive bonuses without adopting a plan that could make those bonuses tax deductible states a claim for waste. The trial court concluded that the complaint failed to allege with particularity, that the board's decision not to implement a so-called "Section 162(m)" plan was a decision that no reasonable person would have made. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed and affirmed the trial court's decision. View "Freedman v. Adams, et al." on Justia Law

Defendants-Appellants National Grange Mutual Insurance Company and The Main Street Insurance Group (collectively "NGM") appealed a Superior Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee Elegant Slumming, Inc. in this property insurance coverage dispute. NGM raised two claims on appeal: (1) NGM contended the trial court erred in finding that the property insurance policy at issue requires only "some evidence," rather than "physical evidence," to show what happened to lost property; (2) and that the trial court erred in finding the amount of Elegant Slumming’s attorney’s fees reasonable. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the trial court erred in concluding that testimonial evidence, by itself, fulfills the "physical evidence" requirement of the policy, and that Elegant Slumming did present physical evidence in addition to testimonial evidence to show what happened to the lost property and therefore coverage was not barred by the policy exclusion. Furthermore, the Court found no abuse of discretion in the award of attorney’s fees pursuant to statute in this case. Accordingly, the Court affirmed. View "National Grange Mutual Insurance Co. v. Elegant Slumming, Inc." on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was whether the Superior Court abused its discretion by dismissing a “trip and fall” case because appellant failed to file an expert report. Appellant’s counsel did provide medical records, but insisted that a formal expert report was unnecessary because such a report would provide no additional information. "Counsel’s stubborn refusal to appreciate that an expert report had to be filed is difficult to understand." But the Supreme Court concluded that the sanction of dismissal was inappropriate under the circumstances. "The claim appeared to have merit; there was time to submit the report without impacting the trial date; and the trial court had not imposed lesser sanctions that were ignored." Accordingly, the Court reversed. View "Hill v. DuShuttle" on Justia Law

The trial court precluded appellants’ experts from testifying at trial because they failed to provide the experts’ reports in accordance with the trial scheduling order. Without any expert testimony, appellants’ claims failed as a matter of law, and judgment was entered for appellees. But appellants had requested a conference with the trial court six months before the trial date to discuss the need to revise the scheduling order. The trial court refused to meet with counsel or change the trial date. Appellants appealed the trial court's refusal to confer, and the Supreme Court held that was an abuse of discretion: "A conference held at that point would have allowed the trial court to determine whether the circumstances justified a new trial date. If not, the trial court could have set new discovery deadlines that would have maintained the original trial date. . . . Because experience has shown that sanctions are not always effective [when counsel fails to abide by set deadlines, and to address crowded, high volume docket problems of the courts]," the Court has determined that it is necessary to refine the "Drejka" analysis. "Henceforth, parties who ignore or extend scheduling deadlines without promptly consulting the trial court, will do so at their own risk." View "Christian v. Counseling Resource Associates, Inc., et al." on Justia Law

The issue on appeal in this case stemmed from the Superior Court’s dismissal of appellant’s complaint for failure to provide discovery to appellees. Appellant was acting pro se for the first 18 months after she filed the complaint. During that time appellees, who had filed a counterclaim, filed several motions to compel answers to interrogatories and production of documents. The trial court held hearings on the motions; explained exactly what appellant needed to do in responding to the discovery; and warned that failure to comply with the court’s order could result in sanctions and dismissal. Appellant ignored the trial court’s warnings, and the court dismissed the complaint. She appealed, arguing the Superior Court abused its discretion in dismissing her case. Applying the "Drejka" factors, the Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion and affirmed. View "Adams v. Aidoo" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was whether the Superior Court abused its discretion in refusing to reopen a summary judgment entered against appellants after they missed the deadline for filing a response to appellees’ motion. Appellants mistakenly believed that they had 20 additional days to respond because appellees filed supplemental materials two weeks after filing their motion. The trial court apparently accepted the fact that appellants had made a mistake, but refused to reopen the case because appellants were unable to justify their mistake. Upon review, the Court concluded that the trial court failed to give adequate weight to the policy in favor of deciding cases on the merits, and reversed. View "Keener v. Isken" on Justia Law