State v. Watson, ID. 1703002846 A & B

• Court: Superior Court of Delaware
• Writing for the Court: Calvin L. Scott, Jr. Judge
• Parties: STATE OF DELAWARE, v. KHALIF WATSON, Defendant.
• Docket Number: ID. 1703002846 A & B
• Decision Date: 26 October 2022

STATE OF DELAWARE,
v.
KHALIF WATSON, Defendant.

ID. No. 1703002846 A & B

Superior Court of Delaware

October 26, 2022

John S. Taylor, Esquire, Deputy Attorney General, Attorney for the State of Delaware.

Khalif Watson, Pro Se.

ORDER

Calvin L. Scott, Jr. Judge

1

This 26^th day of October 2022, upon consideration of Defendant's Motion for Correction of an Illegal Sentence pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 35, it appears that:

1. Defendant Khalif Watson ("Watson") has filed a pro se Motion for Correction of an Illegal Sentence ("Motion"), pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 35. Watson raised one ground for relief in the instant Motion: his sentence to Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited was illegally enhanced from 5 years to 10 years Level V due to his 2012 Federal Firearm conviction. For the reasons set forth below, Watson's Motion is DENIED.

2. On August 17, 2018, the Court sentenced Watson. Watson's Motion rests on his sentence for PFBPP. For this charge, the Court sentenced Watson to ten (10) years at Level V. Watson argues the Court improperly enhanced his sentence from five (5) years at Level V to ten (10) years because it improperly categorized his Federal Firearm conviction was a "violent offense" under the PFBPP statute. Watson argues under Federal Law, his Federal Firearm conviction is considered "non-violent," therefore, this Court cannot consider the conviction to enhance his state conviction.

3. We agree 11 Del. C. § 1448(c) explains how this Court should properly determine what is to be considered a "violent felony" under the law of this

2

State. The Court, however, disagrees with Watson in his interpretation of such statute. Section 1448(e)(3) reads "For the purposes of this subsection, "violent felony" means any felony so designated by § 4201(c) of this title, or any offense set forth under the laws of the United States, any other state or any territory of the United States which is the same as or equivalent to any of the offenses designated as a violent felony by § 4201(c) of this title."^[1] The conjunction contained in this section indicates an offense under the laws of the United States, such as Watson's Federal Firearm conviction, may be considered a violent felony in this State if that Federal conviction is the same as or equivalent to any offense designated as a violent felony in this State.

4. Here, to determine whether Watson's Federal Firearm Conviction is the same or...