State v. Ransome, ID 2101005153

• Court: Superior Court of Delaware
• Writing for the Court: Jan R. Jurden, President Judge
• Parties: STATE OF DELAWARE, v. NIGEL RANSOME, Defendant.
• Docket Number: ID 2101005153
• Decision Date: 22 November 2022

STATE OF DELAWARE,
v.
NIGEL RANSOME, Defendant.

ID No. 2101005153

Superior Court of Delaware

November 22, 2022

Date Submitted: October 7, 2022

ORDER

Jan R. Jurden, President Judge

Upon consideration of Defendant's "Motion for Modification and/or Reduction" ("Motion"), Superior Court Criminal Rule 35(b), statutory and decisional law, and the record in this case, IT APPEARS THAT:

(1) On April 6, 2022, Defendant pled guilty to Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon ("CCDW") and Burglary Second Degree.^[1] The State moved to have Defendant declared a habitual offender under 11 Del. C. § 4214(d) on July 29, 2022.^[2]The Court granted the motion,^[3] and by Order dated August 5, 2022,^[4] effective

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January 12, 2021, Defendant was sentenced as follows: as to CCDW, 8 years at Level V;^[5] and as to Burglary Second Degree, 8 years at Level V, suspended after 18 months for 1 year at Level III.^[6] Because the Court declared Defendant a habitual offender, Defendant's CCDW sentence for 8 years at Level V unsuspended is mandatory pursuant to 11 Del. C. § 4214(d).^[7]

(2) In the instant Motion, Defendant asks the Court to suspend 3 years of his 8-year sentence on the CCDW charge.^[8] In support of this request, Defendant cites his obligations as a sole provider for his family, his rehabilitation efforts, his pending employment upon release, and his expressions of remorse.^[9]

(3) Superior Court Criminal Rule 35(b) governs motions for modification of sentence. "Under Rule 35(b), a motion for sentence modification must be filed within ninety days of sentencing, absent a showing of 'extraordinary circumstances.'"^[10] Rule 35(b) also mandates that "[t]he [C]ourt will not consider

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repetitive requests for reduction of sentence."^[11] The bar to repetitive motions has no exception.^[12]

(4) This is Defendant's first Rule 35(b) motion, and it was filed within 90 days^[13] of the imposition of sentence, therefore, his motion is not procedurally barred under Rule 35(b). Rule 35 does not, however, give the Court authority to reduce or suspend the mandatory portion of a substantive statutory minimum sentence.^[14]Pursuant to, 11 Del. C. § 4214(e), a sentence imposed under the section "shall be served in its entirety at full custodial Level V institutional setting" and shall not be suspended by the Court.^[15]

(5) The Court sentenced Defendant as a habitual offender to the minimum mandatory required by statute on the CCDW charge. The Court has no...