Seramone v. State

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

JOSEPH SERAMONE, § § No. 322, 2025 Defendant Below, § Appellant, § Court Below–Superior Court § of the State of Delaware v. § § Cr. ID No. 1904020542 (N) STATE OF DELAWARE, § § Appellee. §

Submitted: August 4, 2025 Decided: August 12, 2025

Before TRAYNOR, LEGROW, and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

ORDER

After consideration of the notice to show cause and the appellant’s response,

it appears to the Court that:

(1) On July 21, 2025, the appellant, Joseph Seramone, filed a notice of

appeal from the Superior Court’s order, dated and docketed June 5, 2025, denying

his motion for correction of illegal sentence. Under Supreme Court Rules 6 and 11,

the last day for filing a timely notice of appeal was July 7, 2025. The Senior Court

Clerk therefore issued a notice directing Seramone to show cause why this appeal

should not be dismissed as untimely filed. In response to the notice to show cause,

Seramone explains that he is not an attorney and has limited access to the prison law

library. (2) Time is a jurisdictional requirement.1 Unless the appellant satisfies 10

Del. C. § 147(b)(1) and Rule 6(a)(iii) or can demonstrate that his failure to file a

timely notice of appeal is attributable to court-related personnel, a notice of appeal

must be received by the Court within the applicable time period to be effective.2

(3) Seramone does not claim, and the record does not reflect, that he placed

the notice of appeal in the prison’s internal mail system on or before July 7, 2025,

the last day for filing an appeal from the Superior Court’s June 5, 2025 order. Nor

has Seramone demonstrated that the untimely filing is attributable to court-related

personnel. This appeal must therefore be dismissed.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the appeal is

DISMISSED under Supreme Court Rule 29(b).

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Abigail M. LeGrow Justice

1 Carr v. State, 554 A.2d 778, 779 (Del.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 829 (1989). 2 See 10 Del. C. § 147(b)(1) (effective May 22, 2025) (providing that an appeal filed by a self- represented inmate who is confined in a correctional institution is timely filed if (1) the inmate's notice of appeal is placed in the institution's internal mail system on or before the last day for filing; (2) the first-class postage is prepaid; and (3) the notice of appeal is accompanied by a receipt from the institution's staff verifying the date and time the notice of appeal was placed in the institution's internal mail system); Del. Supr. Ct. R. 6(a)(iii)(C) (as amended July 14, 2025) (similar); Bey v. State, 402 A.2d 362, 363 (Del. 1979). 2