McCurdy v. State

• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware
• Decided: March 10, 2025
• Docket: 185, 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

JOHN MCCURDY, § § Defendant Below, § No. 185, 2024 Appellant, § § Court Below: Superior Court v. § of the State of Delaware § STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID No. 2209000664 (N) § Appellee. §

Submitted: February 19, 2025 Decided: March 10, 2025

Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

ORDER

After consideration of the parties’ briefs and the record below, we find it

evident that the judgment of the Superior Court should be affirmed. Regarding the

claim that the police failed to corroborate the anonymous tip, we find that the tip was

sufficiently corroborated by the canine open-air sniff detecting illegal drugs in the

defendant’s storage unit. The canine sniff supported probable cause that an illegal

offense had been committed.1 Otherwise, we affirm on the basis of and for the

reasons stated in the court’s July 28, 2023 transcript ruling.

1 LeGrande v. State, 947 A.2d 1103, 1111 (Del. 2008) (citing Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 272 (2000) (holding that independent police work must corroborate an “anonymous tipster’s assertion of illegality”). NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the judgment of the

Superior Court is AFFIRMED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr. Chief Justice