Justia Delaware Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Erin Lowther was arrested after an altercation with her sister-in-law Trisha. A grand jury issued a superseding indictment, charging Lowther with second degree assault, terroristic threatening and offensive touching. At trial, Lowther unsuccessfully moved to acquit on the terroristic threatening charge. The jury found Lowther guilty of assault and terroristic threatening, but not offensive touching. Lowther was sentenced to six years at Level V incarceration, eighteen months suspended at Level III probation for assault, and one year at Level V incarceration, suspended for one year at Level III probation for terroristic threatening. On appeal, she raised two issues: (1) the evidence presented against her at trial was insufficient to support the threatening charge; and (2) the trial court erred in instructing the jury with regard to the threatening charge. Finding no merit to these arguments, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment. View "Lowther v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant Nicole Hansley was convicted by jury of Tier 4 Drug Dealing, Tier 5 Aggravated Possession, Possession of Cocaine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She raised two issues on appeal, one of which was conceded by the State. Hansley’s remaining claim was that the trial court erred by precluding Hansley from introducing relevant testimony of a former police officer that Hansley was a prostitute addicted to crack cocaine, thereby violating Hansley’s constitutional right to present a defense. Upon review, the Delaware Supreme Court found that the trial court erred by excluding relevant testimony in violation of the Delaware Rules of Evidence. Accordingly, the Court reversed. The Court did not reach Hansley’s constitutional argument. View "Hansley v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellant Nicole Hansley was convicted by jury of Tier 4 Drug Dealing, Tier 5 Aggravated Possession, Possession of Cocaine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Hansley raised two issued on appeal, one of which was conceded by the State. Her remaining claim was that the trial court erred by precluding Hansley from introducing relevant testimony of a former police officer that Hansley was a prostitute addicted to crack cocaine, thereby violating Hansley’s constitutional right to present a defense. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court found the trial court erred by excluding the testimony in violation of the Delaware Rules of Evidence, and accordingly, reversed. View "Hansley v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant Andrey Zhurbin was convicted by jury of leaving the scene of a collision after an accident that took place in a casino parking lot. On appeal, he argued that his conviction should have been vacated because the collision was on private property, and to have been charged under 21 Del. C. Sec. 4021, the collision should have taken place on a public highway. The Supreme Court affirmed, concluding Zhurbin misread the law: a collision can occur on public or private property to give rise to a charge (or conviction) under 21 Del. C. 4201. Furthermore, because Zhurbin did not raise this issue at trial, any failure of the trial court to grant a judgment of acquittal because of this issue had to be plain error, which the Supreme Court found it was not. View "Zhurbin v. Delaware" on Justia Law

On May 9, 2014, defendant-appellant, John Benge, Jr., appealed a January 16, 2014 superior court order denying his Motion for Modification of Probation and an April 9, 2014 order denying his Motion for Reargument. On May 29, 2014, Benge filed an appeal of another superior court's February 14, 2014 order denying his Motion for Modification of Probation and April 29, 2014, order denying his Motion for Reargument. After Benge filed his opening briefs in both appeals, the State filed a Motion to Consolidate the appeals. Then on August 27, 2014, Benge filed a Motion for Expedited Further Proceedings. Based on his calculations, he claimed that his probation had ended on May 9, 2014, except for Level I Restitution Only probation, and yet he remained subject to the conditions of Level III probation. The State did not oppose the motion because briefing had already been completed. In light of the completion of briefing and submission of the matter for decision as of September 12, 2014, the Supreme Court held that the Motion for Expedited Further Proceedings was moot. On appeal, Benge argued that the two Superior Court judges erred in denying his motions to reduce the level of his supervision from Level III to Level I and that the length of his probation was calculated incorrectly. Upon consideration of the briefs of the parties and the record below, the Supreme Court found no reversible errors, and affirmed. View "Benge v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellant Tremein Hoskins appealed a Superior Court order denying his Rule 61 Motion for Postconviction Relief following his conviction of murder second degree. Hoskins brought five arguments on appeal, all relating to the performance of his trial counsel: (1) the Superior Court erred in relying on his counsel’s affidavit in response to Hoskins’ Motion for Postconviction Relief, creating a structural error that violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel; (2) his counsel was ineffective when he failed to request an accomplice credibility jury instruction; (3) his counsel was ineffective when he failed to request a single theory unanimity jury instruction; (4) his trial counsel was ineffective when he failed to object to the admissibility of out-of-court statements made by his accomplice; and (5) the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s actions resulted in an unfair trial. Finding no merit to any of these contentions, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed. View "Hoskins v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Appellant Clifford Lum argued that his convictions for the offenses of possession of ammunition and possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited should have been vacated because the Superior Court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. Lum argued that the State did not present sufficient evidence in its case-in-chief for the Court to have concluded he knowingly possessed those items. Finding the evidence sufficient to support his convictions, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Lum v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellant Ronald Luttrell appealed his convictions for Attempted Rape in the First Degree, three counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree, one count of Attempted Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree, and two counts of Indecent Exposure. Defendant raised two issues on appeal: (1) the Superior Court abused its discretion when it failed to grant his motion for a bill of particulars, because the indictment did not clearly delineate the acts for which he was being prosecuted or when they occurred, and therefore it did not allow him to adequately prepare a defense or protect him from double jeopardy; and (2) the Superior Court committed plain error when it allowed impermissible vouching evidence to be presented to the jury. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the Superior Court abused its discretion in denying defendant's motion for a bill of particulars, and that the admission of vouching evidence constituted plain error. The matter was remanded for a new trial. View "Luttrell v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant Brandon Williams appealed his convictions of Burglary Second Degree, Unlawful Use of a Credit Card, Misdemeanor Theft, and Resisting Arrest. The State alleged that Williams entered the home of Jeffrey Fisher through an open window and stole his wallet from his home office. Williams did not object at trial to the evidence of officers being dispatched to a nearby gas station in which surveillance video captured Williams using the stolen credit card. In his defense, Williams conceded that he unlawfully used Fisher’s credit card and that he resisted arrest. But he denied that he was the person who burglarized the Fishers’ home. Instead, Williams claimed that he found the wallet and that he had been too intoxicated to commit the burglary. The jury found Williams guilty of all charges. The trial court sentenced Williams to fifteen years of imprisonment as a habitual offender. On appeal, Williams argued: (1) the trial court committed plain error when it allowed the State to emphasize through four police officers and closing argument that Williams was arrested in this burglary case after the police responded to a call of an attempted burglary at the gas station; and (2) that the trial court plainly erred and unfairly bolstered police testimony when it provided an expert-witness jury instruction that referred to police officers because there was no qualified expert who testified at trial. The Supreme Court found no merit to Williams' appeal, and affirmed his convictions. View "Williams v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Appellant-mother Amy O'Conner appealed three Family Court orders, all related to property division and child custody issues arising out of the her divorce from appellee-father Alvin O'Conner in 2012. After careful consideration, the Supreme Court dismissed Mother's appeals as untimely. However, the Court concluded the Family Court abused its discretion in refusing to reopen the custody proceedings because, under the circumstances of this case, the interests of the children justified reopening the custody proceeding (later events indicated that the Mother needed clear unilateral authority to make decisions on her children's behalf, given the Father's alleged refusal to fulfill even minimal parental responsibilities". In so ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged the difficult circumstances the Family Court confronted in dealing with the Mother's motion to reopen. "Because the Mother was pro se, she did not point the Family Court to the appropriate rule or case law, leaving the Family Court to address the motion without adequate legal briefing." The Mother's appeal from the Family Court's orders dated July 22, 2013 and October 30, 2013 were dismissed as untimely, but the Family Court's judgment dated January 16, 2014 was reversed and remanded. View "O'Conner v. O'Conner" on Justia Law