O'Neal v. State

• Decision Date: 03 October 1968
• Citation: 247 A.2d 207
• Parties: Thurman C. O'NEAL and Michael F. George, Defendants Below, Appellants, v. The STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.
• Court: Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 207

247 A.2d 207

Thurman C. O'NEAL and Michael F. George, Defendants Below, Appellants, v. The STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Oct. 3, 1968.

Upon appeal from Superior Court. Affirmed.

Richard Allen Paul, Asst. Public Defender, Wilmington, for Thurman C. O'Neal, defendant below, appellant.

William J. Alsentzer, Jr., Wilmington, for Michael F. George, defendant below, appellant.

Richard G. Elliott, Jr. and Robert E. Daley, Deputy Attys. Gen., Wilmington, for plaintiff below, appellee.

WOLCOTT, C. J., and CAREY and HERRMANN, JJ., sitting.

HERRMANN, Justice:

This appeal from convictions of robbery involves the alleged perjured testimony of an accomplice.

The appellants Thurman C. O'Neal and Michael F. George were jointly indicted for the robbery of a liquor store operator, William Kempski. A separate indictment was returned against Charles L. Pruitt for the same offense. Some time before the trial, upon application of the State, the cases were consolidated for trial; but just before trial commenced, the State 'elected' not to try Pruitt, and the trial proceeded as to the appellants only.

Pruitt testified as an eye witness against the appellants and they were convicted. A few days later, Pruitt entered a plea of guilty to assault and battery upon Kempski.

Subsequently, the Superior Court granted a new trial to the appellants upon the basis of newly discovered evidence, manifested by the affidavit of Richard Skillman stating that Pruitt was with him elsewhere at the time of the robbery. The State's motion for reargument was denied but, subsequently, reargument upon the motion for new trial was granted when the State produced evidence indicating that the Skillman affidavit had been obtained by the coercion of the appellants. Upon the rehearing, the Trial Court concluded that the Skillman affidavit was unworthy of belief, and that it had erred in granting the new trial upon the basis thereof. Accordingly, the Trial Judge vacated his prior order and denied new trial. ¹ O'Neal and George appeal from their convictions and the denial of new trial.

The appeals are on three grounds:

I.

It is contended that when the State 'elected' not to proceed with the trial of Pruitt, a severance was granted in violation of Superior Court Criminal Rule 14, Del.C.Ann., ² because the State failed to show prejudice in support of its application; that, therefore, the Trial Court abused its discretion in permitting the trial to proceed against O'Neal and George only.

There is no need to enter into an extensive discussion of Rule 14 because the State's action did not amount to an application for a severance. In this connection, the prosecutor stated to the Court: 'We can make a fair representation to you that we will not be trying Mr. Pruitt and for that reason there is no sense delaying the trial for the other two gentlemen who will stand trial.' In our view, and apparently in the view of the Trial Judge, this amounted to an announcement by the Deputy Attorney General of intention to enter a Nolle prosequi as to the robbery charge against Pruitt.

The Attorney General, representing the Executive branch of our State government, has the duty and responsibility to decide who shall be prosecuted and for what offense. In this State, it is within the scope of the power of the Attorney General to enter a Nolle prosequi, before the commencement of trial, as to any pending criminal charge; and this without the necessity of stating his reasons therefor, or of obtaining the consent of the Court. See State v. Dennington, 1 Storey 322, 145 A.2d 80 (1958).

Accordingly, it appears that the prosecutor acted within the recognized power of his office in announcing to the Court, before the trial commenced, that the Attorney General chose not to proceed against Pruitt; and the Trial Judge, whose consent was not required, committed no error in permitting the trial to proceed as to the appellants only.

II.

The appellants contend that a new trial should have been granted because Pruitt's subsequent plea of guilty to the charge of assault and battery establish that he committed perjury at the trial; because such perjured testimony was uncorroborated and because in that posture, the testimony of Pruitt was clearly outweighed by the testimony of the appellants' alibi witnesses.

It is settled in this State that a conviction may stand upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice if the jury is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the testimony is true. See State v. Thomas, 6 Teery 385, 75 A.2d 218 (1950); State v. Winsett, Del., 205 A.2d 510, 521 (1964). The weight to be accorded such testimony is, of course, for the jury to decide. The only question presented in this connection, requiring further comment, arises from the assumption that Pruitt perjured himself at the trial as evidenced by his subsequent plea.

Pruitt's subsequent plea affected only his credibility and his own complicity. At the trial, Pruitt identified the appellants as the robbers and, asserting that he was trying to help the victim, he denied complicity. The subsequent plea of guilty of assault and battery did not contradict Pruitt's testimony as to the central issue of the trial: the identification of the...