Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Defendant Raymond Blake was tried before a jury for Trafficking in Cocaine, Possession with Intent to Deliver ("PWID") Cocaine, PWID Heroin, and Maintaining a Vehicle for Keeping Controlled Substances. The jury found Defendant guilty of the lesser-included offenses of Possession of Cocaine and Possession of Heroin, not guilty of Maintaining a Vehicle, and could not agree unanimously on the trafficking charge. Prosecutors sought and obtained another indictment of Defendant, charging him with Trafficking in Cocaine and Trafficking in Heroin, based upon his possession of the same contraband he was convicted of possessing in the first trial. Defendant's motion to dismiss was denied and at the second trial he was convicted as charged. Defendant appealed, claiming the protection against Double Jeopardy under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution barred the State from trying him on trafficking in a controlled substance charges when he had already been convicted of the lesser included offense of Possession based on the same conduct. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed and accordingly reversed and remanded the case with instruction to vacate Defendant's trafficking convictions. View "Blake v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant Thomas Sammons appealed several final superior court judgments after he was convicted by jury of second-degree burglary, second-degree robbery and criminal mischief. Defendant raised two issues on appeal to the Supreme Court: (1) that the trial judge erred in declaring Defendant an habitual offender pursuant to title 11, section 4214(b) of the Delaware Code based on a prior conviction in the State of Florida for burglary; and (2) that the trial judge erred in declaring Defendant an habitual offender, where the issue of rehabilitation, in light of his "organic dysfunctions," was not addressed. Upon review, the Supreme Court that both of Defendant's arguments were without merit. View "Sammons v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant Ewelina Kulowiec appealed her conviction for third-degree assault. Defendant elected to have a non-jury trial, after which she was acquitted of Aggravated Menacing, a firearm offense, and Terroristic Threatening, but was convicted of assault. Defendant was sentenced to one year of imprisonment at Level 5, suspended for one year of probation at Level 2. On appeal, Defendant argued that the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she inflicted "physical injury" upon her then-husband. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the record did not support Defendant's argument. Therefore, the superior court's judgment was affirmed. View "Kulowiec v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant Leshawn Washington was convicted by jury on four counts of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, twelve counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and six counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. He appealed his convictions, arguing that the superior court abused its discretion by permitting the admission of certain evidence that the jury ultimately used to convict him. Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court found no merit to Defendant's arguments, and affirmed his convictions. View "Washington v. Delaware" on Justia Law

A passenger in a car stopped by the police for illegally tinted windows claimed to have no identification and provided an officer with a false identity. After a database search returned no results, the officer handcuffed the passenger and recovered a gun during a pat down. The passenger challenged his conviction, arguing officers had no probable cause to arrest him, and moved to suppress evidence of the recovered gun. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that the officer possessed probable cause to arrest the passenger for criminal impersonation, and affirmed the trial judge's denial of a motion to suppress the gun. View "Stafford v. Delaware" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant the State of Delaware appealed a Superior Court order granting a motion to suppress by the Defendants-Appellees Michael Holden and Lauren Lusby on grounds that the search warrant affidavit approved by the magistrate failed to establish probable cause. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court held that the magistrate had a substantial basis to conclude that probable cause existed to search Holden's home for contraband or evidence of a crime. Accordingly, the Court reversed the Superior Court judgment granting the motion to suppress. View "Delaware v. Holden" on Justia Law

In this appeal, the issue before the Supreme Court was whether a Superior Court judge’s decision to admit a blood analysis report without the testing chemist’s testimony violated Defendant–Appellant’s Sixth Amendment confrontation rights. Here, the testifying laboratory manager who ultimately certified the report testified before the jury, but the manager neither observed nor performed the test. The Court held that the absent analyst’s testimonial representations were admitted for their truth on an issue central to the case, which violated the Defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. Accordingly, the Court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Martin v. Delaware" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this appeal was whether a Superior Court judge abused his discretion when he granted defense counsel an overnight continuance to review an additional set of laboratory reports the State’s chemist produced while testifying on cross examination. The Court agreed with the Superior Court judge’s ruling that the State failed to comply with Superior Court Criminal Rule 16. However, the Court held that the trial judge abused his discretion by granting defense counsel a continuance for less than 24 hours to review the highly technical data in the reports. Accordingly, the Court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings. reverse. View "Oliver v. Delaware" 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