State of Delaware v. Williams.
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THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY STATE OF DELAWARE, ) ) ) ) ) ) v. JOHN K. WILLIAMS, Defendant. ID#: 0611018775 Cr.A. #: IN-06-12-1069 ORDER Upon Defendant s Motion to Correct an Illegal Sentence DENIED 1. The court sentenced Defendant to three years in prison as a habitual offender under 11 Del. C. § 4214(a), followed by one year of transitional probation under 11 Del. C. § 4204(l). 2. Defendant contends that transitional probation under 11 Del . C. § 4204(l) is capped by the statute at six months. He relies on Larson v. State.1 3. In this case s context, Defendant misreads the statute and Larson. 4. Sentences imposed under 11 Del. C. § 4214(a) cannot be suspended. Eleven Del. C. § 4204(l), however, requires that whenever the court imposes a sentence of, or totaling more than, one year in prison, it must also impose a period of custodial supervision . . . of not less than six months[.] Thus, 11 Del. 1 Larson v. State, Del. Supr., 659 A.2d 228 (TABLE), 1995 WL 236650. C. § 4204(l), by its terms, sets a minimum custodial sentence: six months. 5. Section 4204(l) does not speak directly to a maximum sentence. Larson, however, establishes that if the court sentences Defendant to the maximum prison sentence, the custodial sentence mandated by 11 Del. C. § 4204(l) is then capped at six months. The sentence in Larson was not defective because it was longer than six months; it was defective because it exceeded the statutory maximum for the crime by more than six months. 6. Here, the § 4214(a) sentence exceeds one year in prison, but Defendant did not receive the maximum § 4214(a) sentence: life imprisonment. (A life sentence under 11 Del. C. § 4214(a) is tantamount to a fixed term of 45 years.2) Accordingly, the court was required to impose no less than six months transitional probation under 11 Del. C. § 4204(l). The transitional probation, however, was not capped in this case at six months, as Defendant contends. The probation was only capped by 11 Del. C. § 4204(l) at six months if Defendant had received the maximum sentence under § 4214(a), which he did not receive. 7. Taking Defendant s criminal history into account, a six-month transitional probation is not enough to demonstrate Defendant s rehabilitation and to 2 Crosby v. State, 824 A.2d 894, 902 (Del. 2003) (citing 11 Del. C. § 4346). 2 protect the public from him. It remains to be seen whether Defendant will be able to stay out of criminal trouble for a year after he is released. In any event, the one-year transitional probation here falls within the possible maximum sentence and, therefore, it is legal. For the foregoing reasons, Defendant s June 22, 2009, Motion to Correct an Illegal Sentence is DENIED. IT IS SO ORDERED. Date: September 16, 2009 /s/ Fred S. Silverman Judge cc: Prothonotary (criminal) Cynthia Faraone, Deputy Attorney General John K. Williams 3
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