French v. State
Annotate this CaseDefendant 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.
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