Plaches v. State
| Decision Date | 06 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | 126, 2020 |
| Citation | 278 A.3d 661 |
| Parties | James L. PLACHES, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Delaware |
Patrick J. Collins, Esquire, Collins & Associates, Wilmington, Delaware for Appellant.
John Williams, Esquire, Department of Justice, Dover, Delaware for Appellee.
Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA, VAUGHN, TRAYNOR, and MONTGOMERY-REEVES, Justices, constituting the Court en Banc.
Before this Court is an appeal from a February 24, 2020 Superior Court Violation of Probation ("VOP") hearing where the court held that James L. Plaches ("Plaches") violated his probation after he admitted to police contact. The court sentenced Plaches to seven years of unsuspended prison time, followed by community supervision with conditions.1
On appeal, Plaches argues that the Superior Court's decision should be reversed because he could not have violated his probation by complying with a condition of his probation, namely, reporting police contact. Plaches argues that the court specifically found one fact, police contact, and based on that finding, the Superior Court erroneously held that " ‘obviously’ the [c]ourt must find that [Plaches] violated the terms and conditions of his probation."2 Plaches asserts this was an abuse of discretion.
The State's burden to prove a violation of probation requires the State to "prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the ‘conduct of the probationer has not been as good as required by the conditions of probation.’ "3 We are unable to determine on this record what evidence the Superior Court relied on when it found Plaches in violation of his probation. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the Superior Court's finding that Plaches violated his probation and REMAND this case to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion, which would include conducting an evidentiary hearing to determine whether a violation of probation occurred.
Plaches was arrested on December 9, 2009, and pleaded guilty to the following three charges on July 7, 2010: Rape Third Degree, Breach of Conditions, and Tampering with a Witness.4 He was sentenced to thirty-two years of Level V imprisonment, suspended after two years followed by additional periods of probation. As a result, Plaches was classified as a Tier 3 sex offender.5
After completion of Plaches’ Level V incarceration time, Plaches served approximately 21 terms of probation — none of which was completed successfully.6 Prior to the events leading to this appeal, Plaches’ most recent violation of probation occurred on May 22, 2018. During that time, the Superior Court resentenced Plaches to the Level V Key Program.7 Plaches successfully completed the Key Program and the balance of his Level V time was suspended for four concurrent terms of Level III GPS supervision.8 Plaches’ Level III supervision had certain conditions, such as successful completion of an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program, maintaining his GPS equipment, and no contact with any minors.9 Plaches was also immediately referred to treatment at the Treatment Access Center ("TASC").
In May of 2019, Plaches was enrolled in the Kent County Mental Health Court. Shortly after enrollment, Plaches was sanctioned for a positive urine screen, which prompted an increase in his treatment. He was referred to two programs that provide clinical mental health services, namely, ARGO and IOP.10
Two months later, Plaches was committed to Sussex Violation of Probation Center ("SVOP") because he began missing IOP appointments. After he was released from SVOP, Plaches admitted himself to Dover Behavioral Health in an attempt to "get his meds straight."11 Plaches was released from Dover Behavioral Health in August of 2019 and started receiving mental health treatment from Mind and Body.12
As of October 2019, Plaches’ reports showed he was doing well with his TASC and Mind and Body treatment and that he had obtained employment with Easter Seals as a caregiver for his elderly mother.
On Friday, January 3, 2020, police were called to Plaches’ residence located in Felton, Delaware (the "Residence") to check on the well-being of Christina Hays ("Hays"), Plaches’ significant other at the time.13 The report identifies Samantha Clendaniel as the "reporting person" who stated that Hays had been "drinking and was acting weird and she wanted the police to check and make sure Hays was ok."14 During the welfare check, Hays stated to police that "she had been drinking and did not want to be around her roommate James Plaches."15 Hays asked if the police could take her to a hotel because she did not want to stay at her residence. The police officer transported Hays to a local hotel.
Later that night, Plaches called the 24-hour probation and parole monitoring center (the "Monitoring Center") to inform them that family members were going to be visiting and were planning to bring children.16 In order to avoid a violation of his probation, Plaches requested to stay at a local hotel for the night. The Monitoring Center granted his request.17
A few days later on January 5, 2020, Plaches again contacted the Monitoring Center. According to the violation report submitted by his Probation Officer, Jessica Vorous ("Vorous"), Plaches advised the Monitoring Center that he could not return to his Residence because his relatives were still there with children.18 Plaches stated that he needed to relocate to a different local hotel. The Monitoring Center again granted his request.19
On January 6, 2020, Plaches had a scheduled meeting with Vorous.20 At this meeting, Plaches reported to Vorous that he had police contact on January 3 and experienced a temporary residence relocation over the weekend. When describing the police contact, Plaches allegedly told Vorous that an unannounced family visit caused tension, and the Felton Police Department was contacted "due to a domestic call involving [Plaches’] fiancé and her sister, and that he was not involved."21 According to Vorous, she questioned Plaches’ weekend arrangements, and Plaches was adamant that his relocation was due to children at his Residence.22 He maintained that he did not know when the relatives were leaving, and he had no choice but to relocate until the children left so that he would be compliant with his probation terms and conditions.23
Plaches returned to the probation office the next day, on January 7, 2020, and advised Vorous that he could return to the Residence because the children had left.24
Later that day, Felton police were dispatched to the Residence "in reference to a physical domestic in progress."25 Upon arrival, Hays advised the police officers that she and Plaches had an argument in Rodney Village where Plaches punched her in the face. Then, Hays changed her story and stated that the incident happened in Camden. Due to the alleged location of the incident, it was determined that the police department in Camden would be handling the report. In the meantime, Hays was transported to Bayhealth Kent General Hospital by ambulance. Once finished at the hospital, Hays was transported by the same police officer to the Residence to retrieve some belongings.
On January 8, 2020, the Camden Police Department issued their report regarding the alleged domestic violence dispute that occurred between Hays and Plaches the previous day.26 According to the police report, Hays and Plaches were involved in a verbal dispute in a store in Camden. After leaving the store, Hays "lightly smacked Plaches on the arm" and in return, Plaches "used [ ] his fist to backhand her in the face."27 "No visible injuries were observed" on Hays by the officer.28 Although the officer interviewed Hays about the incident, the case was closed because of her lack of cooperation.
That same day, Vorous received a call from "family members in New Hampshire"29 who stated there were no children at Plaches’ Residence over the weekend.30 The family members also stated that they were concerned for Hays, who was allegedly attempting to leave Plaches over the weekend.31 Vorous stated that according to the family members, "[Hays] was going from hotel to hotel, he was following her, and they were engaged in a domestic dispute over the weekend."32
Vorous followed up with Hays that same day (January 8, 2020) and later reported — contrary to what the investigating police officers reported — that Hays had visible bruises33 and was extremely frightened of Plaches. After Vorous’ conversations with Hays and the family members, Vorous concluded that Plaches had lied to the Monitoring Center in order to stay with Hays. However, according to Vorous’ report, no charges were filed, and Plaches was not arrested.34
On January 10, 2020, Vorous filed an Administrative Warrant alleging that Plaches violated the terms of his probation.35 Specifically, Vorous alleged that Plaches had violated three conditions, namely, Conditions Two, Five, and Thirteen of his Level III probation.
First, the Administrative Warrant stated that Plaches violated Condition Two of his probation which required that Plaches report "any new arrest, conviction, or police contact within 72 hours to [his] supervising officer."36 According to the Administrative Warrant, Plaches violated this condition because "[o]n January 6, 2020, Mr. Plaches reported [to Vorous that] police contact [occurred on January 3] due to a family dispute between [Hays] and her sister," and "[f]urther investigation revealed this police contact never occurred."37
Second, Condition Five required him to "report any changes of residence ... within 72 hours to [his] supervising officer."38 Plaches allegedly violated this condition on January 3, 2020, and January 5, 2020 when he...
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