Smith v. State

• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware
• Decided: July 1, 2024
• Docket: 161, 2024
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

BLAKE SMITH, § § Defendant Below, § No. 161, 2024 Appellant, § § Court Below: Superior Court v. § of the State of Delaware § STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID No. 2307016090 (N) § Appellee. §

Submitted: June 14, 2024 Decided: July 1, 2024

ORDER

(1) On April 18, 2024, the appellant filed this appeal from a Superior Court

order denying a motion for sentence modification. The Senior Court Clerk sent the

appellant a letter directing him to pay the filing fee or to file a motion and affidavit

to proceed in forma pauperis by May 7, 2024. On May 9, 2024, the Chief Deputy

Clerk sent another letter directing the appellant to either file a motion and affidavit

to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the filing fee by May 23, 2024, or a notice to

show cause would issue.

(2) On May 29, 2024, the Chief Deputy Clerk issued a notice, sent by

certified mail, directing the appellant to show cause why the Court should not

dismiss the appeal for the appellant’s failure to either pay the Supreme Court filing

fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis as directed in the earlier letters. The notice to show cause directed the appellant to respond within ten days and

advised that if the appellant did not respond, dismissal of the appeal would be

deemed to be unopposed. On June 3, 2024, the Court received the certified-mail

receipt indicating that the notice had been delivered.

(3) The appellant having failed to respond to the notice to show cause

within the required ten-day period,1 dismissal of this action is deemed to be

unopposed.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, under Supreme Court Rules 3(b)

and 29(b), that the appeal is DISMISSED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ N. Christopher Griffiths Justice

1 The Court notes that the appellant also has not filed an opening brief, which was due June 7, 2024.