State v. Sudler

CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedJune 1, 2016
Docket1208012890
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Sudler (State v. Sudler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sudler, (Del. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

) STATE OF DELAWARE ) ) v. ) I.D. No. 1208012890 ) DERRICK SUDLER, ) ) Defendant. ) )

Submitted: March 7, 2016 Decided: June 1, 2016

On Defendant‘s Amended Motion for Postconviction Relief. DENIED.

ORDER Periann Doko, Esquire, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney for the State.

Natalie S. Woloshin, Esquire, Woloshin, Lynch & Natalie, P.A., 3200 Concord Pike, Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney for Defendant.

COOCH, R.J.

This 1st day of June, 2016, upon consideration of Defendant‘s Amended Motion for Postconviction Relief, it appears to the Court that:

1. On August 6, 2012, Elizabeth Greene saw a suspicious man standing on her front porch with her house keys in his hand. Greene was able to see the man through a large, clear-glass window in her front door. When Greene asked the man what he was doing on her porch, the man replied that she had left her house and car keys outside. Greene, however, stated that she thought she brought the keys inside and that there was no way to forget her keys in the lock, because there is no lock on the exterior glass door and she would have needed them to lock the interior door from the inside. The man then placed the keys on the door and walked away. Greene called the Newark Police and reported the incident. When the police arrived at Greene‘s home, she described the man as a black male, wearing brown cargo shorts and a black shirt; about 5‘ 6‖; 20–25 years old; 130–150 pounds; and having an ―afro‖ haircut.

2. While the Newark Police were taking Greene‘s statement, they were alerted to a suspected burglary in progress down the street from Greene‘s home. The two witnesses to the alleged burglary were friends of the homeowner, Keenan Donnelly, who was not home at the time. The witnesses, Austin Bucci and Mark Scott, told police that they found the front door unlocked when they arrived at Donnelly‘s home. The witnesses walked into the residence and up to Donnelly‘s bedroom. When they walked into the bedroom they found the suspect crouching.

3. Bucci and Scott both stated that the suspect was a black male with an ―afro-style haircut.‖ They also described him as having medium complexion; standing about 5‘7‖ tall; having a small amount of facial hair or a goatee; wearing a black shirt and tan cargo shorts with white gloves.

4. Newark Police suspected Defendant was the perpetrator in both incidents, primarily because of the consistent descriptions by the three witnesses of Defendant‘s distinctive hairstyle. On August 13, 2012, Greene received a lineup of photographs from the Newark Police via email. From the photograph lineup, she identified Defendant as the man who was on her porch. At trial, Greene again identified Defendant as the man on her porch.

5. On August 14, 2012, Austin Bucci met with the Newark Police and viewed a six-picture photograph lineup that included the Defendant‘s picture. Bucci, too, identified Defendant as the man he saw in the house the night of the alleged burglary. At trial, Bucci also identified the Defendant as the perpetrator. During the trial, Bucci again identified the Defendant. He expressed ―one hundred percent‖ certainty that Defendant was the person he saw perpetrating the burglary.

2 6. The same day they met with Austin Bucci, the Newark Police met separately with Mark Scott and showed him a six-picture photograph lineup. He, too, stated he had no doubt Defendant was the man he saw inside Donnelly‘s home the night of the burglary. At the trial, Mark Scott identified Defendant as the man he had seen in the house, stating he was certain regarding the identification.

7. On March 1, 2013, following a three-day jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of one count of Burglary Second Degree and one count of Criminal Trespass First Degree. This Court granted the State‘s motion to declare Defendant a habitual offender pursuant to 11 Del. C. § 4124(a). Defendant received a sentence of eight years at Level V for the Burglary Second Degree conviction. For the conviction for the lesser included offense of Criminal Trespass Third Degree, Defendant received a sentence of one year at Level V suspended for sixth months at Level IV, followed by six months at Level III.

8. Defendant contends his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a Motion to Suppress the pre-trial identifications made by the witnesses, and for failing to attempt to suppress the identifications made during the trial proceedings. Defendant also contends that the trial court failed to give a sufficient jury instruction as to the eyewitness identifications and the jury‘s ability to rely on them as evidence that Defendant was the perpetrator of the burglary. Finally, Defendant contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the admissibility of the identifications. Defendant requests an evidentiary hearing to more fully develop these claims.

The State of Delaware contends that trial counsel had the discretion to decide whether or not to file a Motion to Suppress the identifications and whether or not to argue the admissibility of the witness identifications. The State contends the decision to not argue those points was not ineffective because it was the product of defense counsel‘s discretion. The State also contends that more stringent jury instructions regarding pre-trial identifications were not required by Delaware law.

3 9. Defendant‘s Amended Motion is controlled by Superior Court Criminal Rule 61.1 Before addressing the merits of this Amended Motion, the Court must address the procedural requirements.2

10. A motion for postconviction relief can be procedurally barred for time limitations, successive motions, procedural defaults, and former adjudications.3 If a procedural bar exists, the Court will not consider the merits of the postconviction claim unless the Defendant can show that, pursuant to Rule 61(d)(2), the procedural bars are inapplicable.

11. None of the aforementioned procedural bars apply to Sudler‘s Amended Motion. Sudler‘s grounds for relief in this Amended Motion are based on the ineffective assistance of counsel he allegedly experienced with his prior counsel. Therefore, he could not have brought this claim earlier and the procedural bars of Rule 61 are not applicable.

12. Sudler‘s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are reviewed under the United States Supreme Court decision in Strickland v. Washington.4 To determine whether a defendant was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, Strickland established a two-prong test.5 First, a defendant must show that counsel‘s performance was deficient because the representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. 6 Second, the defendant must show prejudice from the deficient performance.7 ―This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable.‖8 If the Defendant did

1 Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61. The Amended Motion is governed by the most-recently amended Rule 61. 2 Younger v. State, 580 A.2d 552, 554 (Del. 1990). 3 Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(i)(1)-(4). 4 466 U.S. 668 (1984). 5 Ploof v. Delaware, 75 A.3d 811, 820 (―While the Sixth Amendment is not directly applicable to the State of Delaware, the United States Supreme Court has applied the Sixth Amendment to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.‖). 6 Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687–88. 7 Id. 8 Id. 4 not receive deficient representation, a court does not need to consider Strickland‘s prejudice prong.

13.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Sudler, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sudler-delsuperct-2016.